The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate
by SpencerandHotchlover
Summary: Aaron Hotchner meets Spencer Reid on his very first day at the BAU and immediately realizes that the two of them are mates since as werewolves they only have one, there is no denying the connection. Spencer, however, was raised human, so has no idea what is happening to him. Will Hotch be able to convince Spencer that he is the one for him? Or will he have to force the issue?
1. Chapter 1

The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate

Part 1

Aaron Hotchner stared at Spencer Reid in astonishment as the young man had just become a new member of his BAU recommended by Jason Gideon who'd said that he was as smart as they come, a genius and Hotch had accepted the recommendation. However, what he had not expected was a slim young man who was also a werewolf like himself, although not an Alpha male, as his attitude was to timid for that. What really astonished him was that the second Reid's scent hit his nostrils he knew that this man, this boy really as he was only 23 was his mate. Reid looked up from under his long lashes, which were brown just like his hair, his eyes, which were golden brown, wide in astonishment and Hotch knew that this young man didn't understood that he had just been claimed, because there was confusion and no little fear in his eyes now. Reid's nostrils were quivering as he took in his scent and Hotch was astonished when he saw confusion and fear because didn't the young man know what his scent meant. Didn't he know that it meant that he, Aaron Hotchner was his mate?

"We will be talking about this after work," Hotch told him in a no nonsense tone and Reid nodded his eyes wide and still frightened. "Don't try to run away from me because I'll track you down," Hotch growled now being able to tell from the young man's body language that he was getting ready to bolt.

Reid gulped and nodded.

"Welcome to the BAU," Hotch said.

"Thank you," Reid squeaked and Hotch could smell the young man's fear.

The fear he smelled coming off his new teammate told him two things. One the young man was likely a virgin, which wasn't surprising, because from his demeanor no women would even notice him. If they did they were unlikely to give him the time of day, because it was clear the Reid was so shy as to be almost introverted. He likely tended to fade into the background whenever there were a lot of strangers around, especially woman as they probably made him nervous and tongue tied.

Two he knew absolutely nothing about his heritage and how werewolves only had one mate, which were determined by scent. He would worry about that later, but now they had been in here long enough and they didn't want to make the rest of the team suspicious so as hard as it was he was going to have to let the young man go. The rest of the world knew absolutely nothing about werewolves and in fact didn't believe they were anything more than fiction. However, werewolves were very real and they walked among humans never letting on what they truly were.

"I'll see you at five," Hotch told Reid who nodded gulping again. "Spencer, calm down, you don't ever have to be afraid of me, I promise you that," Hotch added gently and Reid looked up with such hope in his eyes not responding that it choked Hotch up.

Hotch made another assessment then and that was that Reid had absolutely no idea what was going on, which likely meant that he had been abandoned as a pup and that one or both parents. Hotch doubted that Reid had been told anything about his heritage so they were going to have to discuss a few things before they got to the fucking each other senseless part of the evening as there was no way that the wolf in his chest was going to be denied and there was not going to be a getting to know you stage. Hotch could see that Reid felt the same thing he did, but his struggle was clear in his golden brown eyes and Hotch knew the wolf in Reid was trying violently to escape the boy's control so he could attack him and mark him as his property, but it was clear that Reid didn't understand why it was happening.

"I'll explain everything after work," Hotch told Reid softly and the boy nodded, looking less afraid now, but still nervous.

He was going to have to be gentle at least until things were explained, but whether the boy accepted it or not he Aaron Hotchner was now Spencer Reid's and no one else's just as Reid was his. The mating would take place that night with or without the young man's agreement, because he knew the wolf in him would wait no longer to claim Reid and mark him as his and he was sure that the wolf in Spencer agreed, even if Reid's likely highly intelligent and logical mind was denying what he was feeling.

Hotch well knew that the humans he worked with or anybody else that wasn't another werewolf would call it rape, but werewolves had a different view entirely. As long as the werewolves in question were mates and over 18 then it wasn't rape at all. However, he knew that Spencer's case was a little different as apparently he had not been taught werewolf laws, history or traditions and probably, told nothing about his heritage from the way the young man had acted a minute ago. No, werewolf's mate would consider running away from the one meant for them, because the bond that was between them from the minute they had met would be understood by any wolf that had been raised with the same traditions and law that all werewolves were raised by. Hotch wondered why the boy's pack hadn't taught him anything about himself at all, because he should have been raised among other werewolves, even if his parents had died.

Hotch was suddenly extremely glad that they hadn't been called on a case and hopefully, they wouldn't be for the rest of the day because he didn't know how he was going to resist taking the boy if they were. He wanted to make Spencer's first sexual experience so spectacular that he wouldn't mind repeating it as often as possible.

"Has Gideon introduced into the rest of the team?" asked Hotch.

"Yes, sir, Morgan, JJ and the Garcia, the teams technical analyst," Reid answered a little timidly.

Hotch really hoped that the boy wouldn't keep being so timid, but maybe once he got some solid ground beneath his feet that would change as it was very possible, because Reid had been through several shocks in the last few minutes.

"You may go," Hotch told him, "but remember you're not to leave when the others do."

Reid squeaked and nodded rising from his chair and heading for the door at such a fast rate of speed that he nearly vanished in front of Hotch's eyes.

Well, that boy sure can move fast when he wants to, Hotch thought in amusement looking forward to that evening knowing that Reid wouldn't dare go anywhere.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

Reid tried to act normally while his thoughts were far away. He had so many questions and he was assuming that his new boss Aaron Hotchner would explain everything after work. His biggest question however, was what had been that scent that had hit his nostrils, as it had been mouthwatering and had made him want to attack his new boss and he had barely managed to keep the wolf in his chest under control. Why had Aaron Hotchner looked at him as if he was a piece of fresh juicy steak and like he wanted to attack him and ravage his body? He didn't understand why his werewolf instincts were suddenly screaming at him to do the same to the man that must be at least ten years his senior as his father had told him and his two brothers nothing about that part of themselves. All he knew really was that he was a werewolf and he and his brothers had to change on the full moon, although he knew that they could change anytime really, though he normally didn't do that and only did it when he absolutely had no choice. He and his brothers thought of themselves as basically human as that was the way they had been raised, although he knew that his two brothers enjoyed changing into their wolf form and not just on the full moon. The three of them had survived by hook and by crook and although he wasn't proud to admit they had become expert pickpockets as they'd had no choice if they wanted to survive, since their father had left when they were seven years old with very few resources. The pack that his father had come from had been no help whatsoever and it had been decreed that since the mother was human her pups had no place within the ranks of the other werewolves and that they were weak links that couldn't be afforded.

He, Trevyn and Dylan had had to survive someway, as they couldn't let any adults know that their mother wasn't taking care of them for they would've ended up in separate foster homes and considering the fact that they were mythical creatures that shouldn't exist that wouldn't have been good and in fact it would have been a disaster, since all three of them were forced to change at least once a month.

All three of them had gotten to be excellent thieves, although they never took very much just enough to feed themselves and their mother and to buy new clothes. All three of them had survived on cheap things like hot dogs and hamburgers and also squirrels and rabbits from the forest if they could catch them in their wolf forms, but it had not really been enough to stave off the hunger a lot of times. When all three had gone to college at 13 since all three were geniuses, although their IQs varied, from 175 to 210, with him being firmly in the middle it had gotten better as they had gotten into tutoring and that brought in enough money for decent food and clothes.

Spencer knew if the three of them hadn't been so intelligent that it was unlikely that they would have survived considering that mother had been very sick and she had killed herself when they had just turned 18 as if she had known that all three of her sons were of legal age.

"You okay, Reid?" Morgan asked his new teammate who seemed to be concentrating far more intensely than was required for mere paperwork.

"I'm fine, Morgan," Reid said calmly looking up from his paperwork. "I just have a lot on my mind that's all."

Morgan studied him, his expression and body language, but he couldn't tell whether his new teammate was being truthful or not.

Reid breathed easier when Morgan went back to his paperwork and was suddenly glad that he and his brothers had gotten to be such excellent liars, although none of them made a habit of it, and only did it was absolutely necessary.

Reid concentrated on his paperwork and before he knew it 5 o'clock rolled around, which meant quitting time and he watched as his teammates one by one hated for the elevator.

"Aren't you coming, man?" asked Morgan with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll be a few minutes," Reid said calmly, as he very slowly gathered his things and finally Morgan left with only one curious glance backwards.

Finally once Reid was sure that the rest of the team was gone, he waited as calmly as possible for Hotch to emerge and it wasn't long for the man himself strode from his office, causing Reid's pulse to leap to his throat as he watched the handsome man stroll confidently across the bullpen. Calm down, Reid told his racing heart, he's your boss nothing more. Reid had no idea where these reactions too Hotch's tall commanding presence were coming from, only that he had to get them under control or there was no way he could work with the man if he couldn't, as just seeing him made the pulse in his throat beat more rapidly than normal and his heart pound.

"Come with me," Hotch commanded his tone brooking no argument.

"Where are we going?" asked Reid tentatively.

"Back to my place," Hotch explained as calmly as possible, even as his mate's scent hit his nostrils. That enticing mouthwatering scent made it extremely difficult for him as all he wanted to do was rip Reid's clothes off lean him over the desk and fuck him senseless, but that wouldn't have been wise because there were cameras everywhere. "Believe me, we have a lot to talk about."

Reid gulped nervously and nodded somehow instinctually knowing that Aaron Hotchner would never hurt him or at least that was what the wolf in his chest told him and he had always trusted that part of him in the past and it had gotten him out of quite a few sticky situations.

Reid followed Hotch to the elevator and stepped inside with him and it was less than a minute later that they were in the underground garage.

"We'll take my car," Hotch told Reid not going to let the young man out of his sight until they discussed a few things.

"That's fine, since I took the subway," Reid said.

"What you don't have a car?" Hotch asked in surprise.

"I never learned how to drive," Reid told Hotch simply and Hotch stared at his mate as if he had grown three heads. What teenager didn't learn how to drive? And the mystery of Spencer Reid deepened.

Hotch strode to his car which was a full sized van which surprised Reid as he figured it would be SUV.

"So we're going to your apartment?" Reid asked a little tentatively not sure how Hotch would respond him asking questions about his personal life.

"No, we're going to my house," Hotch corrected. "None of my siblings will bother us."

"Your brothers and sisters are staying with you?" Spencer asked in surprise.

"They're only five years old, so yes. Technically, they are my half siblings. I'll tell you the whole story later."

Spencer nodded, although he was extremely curious how his boss who was in his 30s could have half siblings who were only five years old.

"So why don't you tell me something about yourself," Hotch suggested. "Any siblings or are you an only child?"

"I have two brothers, and we're fraternal triplets as you probably guessed," Spencer answered wondering why his boss was interested in his private life.

"So tell me why you reacted so fearfully when I told you that we would be having a talking why you looked ready to bolt."

Spencer sighed and looked out the window realizing that he was going to have to tell his boss exactly why he had been so scared as he knew that Aaron Hotchner wouldn't stop until he knew the truth. How he knew this he couldn't say, just that he did.

"As I'm sure you guessed from my reaction I know only a little about werewolves, even though me and my brothers are ones. Our father left when we were just seven years old abandoning his sick wife, my mother and his three sons without a word in the middle of the night."

Hotch digested that and felt a burning rage start in his belly, but his tone remained calm as he asked, "What about the local werewolf pack what did they do about this situation?"

Hotch knew what should've happened and that was that William Reid should have been severely reprimanded at the very least and if he refused to go back to his family or at least provide for them. If he didn't at last provide for them he should have been killed for werewolf laws were extremely strict and one of them was that you just didn't abandon your family for no good reason. Now if a werewolf had met their Lifemate it would have been one thing and well within the laws just so long as you provided for any pups, but he had a feeling that what his mate was going to say something he wasn't going to like one bit.

"Our mother was human," Reid began, "and because she was the pack Alpha decreed that we were flawed and that we were weak links that the pack could not afford to have and so he made all three of us outcasts. We were just seven at the time. Our mother was also very sick and though we were only seven all of us were intelligent enough to look after ourselves as we knew that we could not afford to end up in a foster home. Definitely not separate ones and so as ashamed as I am too admit it we got very good at pickpocketing only ever taking enough for us to buy food and clothes. Nobody ever discovered that it was us taking care of ourselves and when we were 13 we all got scholarships to MIT."

Hotch absorbed the story nearly shaking with rage. "So your father taught you nothing about your heritage? Our laws, history or traditions?"

"No," Spencer said shaking his head, "so are you going to arrest me now because I told you that I and my brothers had to pickpocket in order to survive?" asked Spencer afraid of the answer.

"No, because you had do what you could just survive, but there's some things you really need to know, that your father didn't explain to you," Hotch said shaking his head, his disgust obvious. "You're right, when you say that there's no way you or your brothers could go to a foster home, since we have to change on the full moon, even if the change is voluntary the rest of the time. What the pack did to you was wrong as you should have been taken in and supported and your father should have been killed if he didn't at least provide for you, although I can accurately guess that didn't happen, considering that you just told me you and your brothers had to become thieves in order to survive. I suspect that the pack Alpha expected you to die and not survive and persevere like you did. A wolf without his pack, well, it's usually tantamount to suicide, but I suspect that because you had each other that did not happen. In other words, you became your own pack, a pack of three, but still a pack."

Spencer stared out the window again not willing to tell Hotch that his scent was driving him absolutely bonkers with lust and desire and the werewolf in him wanted nothing more than to rip his boss's clothes off and he was fighting off that part of him by sheer force of his stubborn will, although he wasn't sure much longer he could last, considering that his boss's scent was only about 2 feet away.

The rest of the ride was silent, but Hotch kept turning over in his mind Spencer's story and shaking his head. Three pups had been abandoned, basically just because their mother was human and William Reid hadn't cared one iota about his family or that he was likely sentencing his sons to death. He really wished he could get his hands around William Reid's neck and strangle him, but that wasn't the werewolf way so he would have to openly challenge him not that he had any doubt that he could beat Spencer's father and then legally rip him to shreds

"Here we are," Hotch finally said, as he pulled into a driveway of a nice two-story house.

"Nice place," Reid said looking around. "Huge though."

"Thank you, I bought this place when I had to adopt my half siblings," Hotch said, "as an apartment is no place to raise eight children."

"Eight?" Reid asked blinking in astonishment.

"Yes, eight," Hotch said looking at Reid and smiling a little at the young man's astonishment. He was sure that Reid knew the statistics of how rare eight children at one time were, in the human world as well as the werewolf one, although they weren't as rare among werewolves, but still it was rather unusual to have 8 pups at one time, even for their species.

"You'll meet them sometime, but not tonight as it's past their bedtime and the nannies I hired should already have them bedded down for the night."

Which was a good thing because Hotch didn't want to have to deal with his five brothers and three sisters at the moment even if he loved them dearly he had other more important things on his mind like fucking his mate senseless for what remained of the night.

"But it's only seven," Reid protested looking at his watch.

"And that's their bedtime, as dinner is about 5 or 5:30, then they have their baths, which always takes at least an hour, with so many of them and then they brush their teeth and then it's straight to bed," Hotch said. "When they turn six in a few months time they'll be allowed to stay up until eight and when they turn eight they will be allowed to stay up until nine."

Hotch unlocked his door and unset his alarm and then strode Spencer following looking around.

Everything was pretty nice, but also made to be easily cleaned because of eight pups.

"Sit down," Hotch suggested gently pointing to the den. Spencer looked at Hotch still incredibly nervous then obeyed, folding himself down into one of the leather chairs.

"Would you like anything to drink? Or to eat?" Hotch asked suddenly remembering that neither one of them had had dinner.

"I'm fine," Spencer said sitting on the edge of one of the very comfortable chairs done in a nice brown leather. "Could you explain to me why you ordered me to come home with you and why you made me wait until after our shift was over? I freely admit I know nothing about our kind, but I know that some kind of reason that you brought me back to your home and considering you just met me today that makes it even more strange."

"It's not really strange at all and you'll understand why it isn't as soon as I explain a few things to you," Hotch said wanting nothing more than to rip his mate's clothes off and make love to him right there on the very comfortable leather sofa.

"Would you care to explain, as I'm a stranger to you really and you know absolutely nothing about me, except what's in my personnel file." Spencer felt nervous about making demands considering that Hotch was his boss and also an Alpha male, but the mystery of why Aaron Hotchner had wanted to bring him to his home was driving him absolutely batty as was his mouthwatering, luscious scent.

"Do you believe in soulmates?" Hotch asked bluntly not about to dance around the issue.

"No," Spencer answered immediately, "they're nothing more than a device created by writers to sell more books."

"That's true for humankind, but not for us," Hotch countered immediately. "A werewolf knows immediately when they meet their soulmate, or what is known as a Lifemate to our kind. If you had grown up in a pack and been taught our laws, our history and traditions as pups then you would know that soulmates exist among our kind. Only a very few of us ever find the one meant for us and it's always another werewolf, but it doesn't matter whether they are male or female."

Hotch studied Spencer's face and saw he looked disbelieving, which wasn't surprising, because from what he got from Spencer's personnel file the man was extremely logical and practical and therefore, wasn't one to believe in something like soulmates, which to most people were pure fantasy.

"Tell me my scent isn't driving you bonkers?" Hotch asked finally. "Tell me, that the wolf in you isn't struggling like crazy trying to get free from where you have him imprisoned to attack me and rip my clothes to shreds. Tell me, you don't trust me beyond any reasonable measure considering we just met, boss or not, as it normally takes time to build trust between people who work together, but I know the wolf in you is telling you that you can trust me, despite the fact we haven't known each other even 24 hours."  
Spencer couldn't deny it at least not honestly and he doubted very much that Aaron Hotchner would believe him if he did and so he answered with the truth. "I can't say I'm not struggling to contain the wolf in me. However, we are boss and subordinate and you should not be in a relationship with me."

"Normally, I wouldn't even consider it," Hotch told him honestly. "However, there is no denying the connection between us and once a werewolf meets their mate that's the end of the line."

"What precisely do you mean by that?" asked Spencer a little nervously.

"Just that if you had been raised in our history and traditions like you should have been we'd already be upstairs in what is now our bedroom and I'd be fucking you senseless and this conversation never would've taken place. However, I'll tell you now that you and I belong together and you can't deny the connection that flows between us. I'm trying to explain to you what exactly is going to happen, because you can't deny what is between us forever and if you try it will only drive you insane and me as well. Even if you quit the BAU and the FBI entirely and try to run away you won't be able to stay away for very long as you will feel the pull to me, even if you are 500 miles away. The urge to mate with me will get stronger and the longer you deny the connection, the worse you and I will suffer. You'll stop being able to sleep, because of the very intense sexual dreams, you'll wake up shaking with such intense desire and lust every night with your bedsheets soaked in sweat and semen that you will desperately yearn too go back to your mate and to stop running."

"What happens if I don't give into the bond?" asked Spencer thinking rapidly, "and say I go to Italy or France or somewhere even farther away?"

"Then I'll track you down no matter how long it takes," Hotch told Spencer fiercely. "Even if it took me the next 10 years I would track you down, although after awhile you and I would stop being able to function without each other. You're thinking processes will slow down and become extremely sluggish, you will feel depressed and when you are in your wolf form you will howl at the moon, because you miss your mate so much and other wolves would recognize how lonely and desperate it was. Eventually, even if that wasn't for a year or even two you would commit suicide and I would to, although I would make provisions for my siblings before I did that."

Spencer gulped, as he listened to his boss and knew that Hotch wasn't lying as he had said it in a very matter-of-fact voice, as if it was something he had learned as a child, which come to think of it he had, because hadn't Hotch just told him so? Spencer's mind raced rapidly as he tried his best to figure out his feelings for his boss. Could somebody, even a werewolf fall in love at first sight? Or in this case, first smell? Spencer knew that real wolves released pheromones to attract the mate of their choice and could he and Hotch be the same and be releasing pheromones even when they weren't transformed into their wolf forms? They were human as well as wolves and so it was very possible that in this way they were just like their real wolf counterparts. Spencer hadn't known that he could even do that and he assumed that the glands that released the pheromones were in the same places, which were on the tip of a wolf's tail, at the corners of the mouth, behind the ears and at the top of the anus.

"Spencer, stop thinking and simply feel," Hotch told him as gently as possible even though his patience was wearing thin. "Listen to the wolf within you, what does he tell you? Isn't he panting in eagerness ready to let me fuck him senseless and for us to become one? Isn't he trying desperately to get to me, ramming himself against the bars of the cage that you have him in, metaphorically, of course. Isn't he whining desperate to get out? Doesn't he look furious that he is trapped and that you won't release him so that he can get to me?"

Spencer had closed his eyes and he listened to Hotch's voice and just let himself feel. Yes, he was feeling everything that Hotch was describing, things he had been denying until that moment. The wolf in him looked and felt desperate and it was indeed ramming itself against the bars of the cage he had created within his chest to contain it, even though he wasn't entirely sure how he had done so, as all he had done was just thought about needing a cage to contain the wolf within him and it had appeared, surrounding that part of him cutting it off from taking over his body. Spencer had felt each blow to his body as if it was real.

Finally the wolf in his chest just laid down within the cage that surrounded it and seemed to look up at him all sad, depressed and of course, furious that he couldn't get out.

"Yes," Spencer said his tone also dreamy. "I feel everything you are describing and more."

"It's time to listen to that part of you," Hotch said softly. "It's time to stop overthinking things for once and simply feel. You know what you truly feel for me, even though we have just met and I know what I feel for you. I want to mate with you, I want to feel my knot grow inside your body until we are locked together, unable to break apart until the knot shrinks back to normal in the morning. I want to secrete my semen inside you that if you were a bitch you would soon be pregnant with a whole litter of pups. Now open your eyes and tell me what you feel, not what you think."

Spencer's golden brown eyes opened slowly and he stared at Hotch. He looked almost sleepy, as his lids were half closed, but there was also a sharp intelligence in his golden brown orbs as well as an amazing wonder as he stared at Aaron Hotchner.

"I feel the wolf in me so clearly for the first time in my life," Spencer said softly, his voice amazed. "I've always known he was there, but I never paid attention to him except when he sensed danger and then I skedaddled, since I knew that part of me was much better at sensing danger that the human part of me. I've always thought of myself as human, because that's the way I was raised and I didn't really consider the wolf as a part of me, except when I absolutely had to transform on the full moon."

"You were never taught the lessons that all pups are taught and not just our history, laws and traditions, but how to hunt, track, sniff out a trail, move silently in the forest and everything else that a wolf needs to know for when they are in their wolf form. A werewolf finding their Lifemate is a pretty rare occurrence as only about 30 or 35% do. Sure they marry like your father did, but as you can see that doesn't always work out."

"That's the understatement of the decade," Spencer snorted. "So what happens now?" Spencer asked his golden brown eyes looking into Hotch's dark brown ones.

"Well, I take you upstairs, rip your clothes off you and then fuck you like I've been wanting to do since I met you at 8 o'clock this morning," Hotch said his voce gruff with suppressed need.

Spencer blushed at that, which Hotch thought was incredibly endearing, though he didn't let Spencer know that. "But what about the rest of the team?"

"Well, we'll do our best to keep our personal lives private at least for the moment, since we've just met, but perhaps, in a year or so we can tell the team that we've fallen in love. Perhaps, have a wedding ceremony. None of them can find out about the werewolf thing as I know you're aware."

"No, and they'd never believe us anyway," Spencer said shaking his head.

"Not unless we actually transformed in front of their astonished eyes, which we could do if it wasn't against our laws," Hotch said.

"Would you teach me everything I should have learned as a pup?" asked Spencer hesitantly.

"Of course, I will," Hotch promised him knowing that Spencer was likely not going to like some of it, but he wouldn't think about that at the moment. "I would enjoy doing that at a later date, but now whether you agree or not we are going upstairs and completing the bond even if I have to put you over my shoulder. I've been extremely patient because I realized that you weren't raised with werewolf laws, our history, our traditions, but my patience has just about ended."

"It's considered rape if you force yourself on me," Spencer pointed out thinking he made a very logical point.

Hotch burst into laughter and when Spencer looked at him confused, Hotch explained, "Yes, I will admit it is considered rape among humans, but not among werewolves. This has happened in the past where one mate was confused or was in an arranged marriage and that always ended in suicide, usually of both. Making love to your Lifemate, whether one consents or not is not considered rape among our kind, but simply what's right. Once we have sex for the first time you will know what I already do and wonder how you ever did without it and why you were so determined to not agree to it.

"Once we are done you'll be thanking me and wanting me to do it again and again and again until we are both so exhausted all we want to do is sleep like hibernating bears in order to recuperate. We will make love throughout the night and I will be locked inside you for all that time. In fact, you won't be able to get enough of me spurting my seed into you and want to make love constantly, even when we are working I guarantee it. Despite how sore and tender you'll be after I've been locked inside you all night, you will beg for me to do it again and again, throughout our years together and Spencer don't doubt for a single instance that we'll be together for the rest of our lives as this is definitely not a one night stand."

Spencer gulped and knew that this was his fate and he had to admit that he was looking forward to it, because when he had been in that relaxed state with his mind shut off for a change and all he had been able to do was feel, so he knew that he loved Aaron Hotchner despite the illogic of it, since they had known each other less than a day.

"I…I…I know now that I love you too, as when you made me close my eyes like that and made my mind shut off if only for a few minutes, all I could do was feel and all the feelings I'd been suppressing ever since we met this morning came to the surface. I kept telling myself that I just had a gigantic crush on you from the minute I walked into your office and that it would fade with time. I told myself that there was no such thing as love at first sight or in this case, first sniff and that I was deluding myself. My very logical mind kept coming up with reasons why I couldn't have fallen in love with you considering we had just met."

"Good," Hotch growled rising to his feet quickly. "Let's go upstairs and get started. Don't make me throw you over my shoulder, because I will if you resist and this is the only warning you are going to get."

"I… I…" Finally Spencer seemed to gather himself and said, "I won't resist, because as I said I love you too, even if it's extremely illogical."

"Good, upstairs then," Hotch said in a satisfied tone leading the way out of the den and into the hallway where the stairs were located.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2

The two men climbed the stairs silently Spencer first with Hotch on the step below and soon they were on the second floor.

"Down the hall to the right last door on the left side of the hall," Hotch instructed calmly, but with steel beneath his tone.

Spencer followed directions and opened the door to the master bedroom and saw that it was very nicely painted and decorated. It was fairly large with another door off to the left which was probably a bathroom.

"I suggest you take your clothes off, before I rip them from your body," Hotch told him roughly and it was clear he was holding himself back from just attacking him through sheer force of will. It was easy to see that his muscles were tense, his body clearly wanting to spring on the other man. "It's not like you have any spares in the closet at the moment and mine are much too big for you."

Spencer gulped, but knew that his boss was serious and so he hastily undressed and threw his clothes into a corner.

"Now I want to go use the bathroom right quick as I don't want to be interrupted because you need to pee," Hotch ordered. "In fact, you won't be able to pee once I am locked inside you, so you had better go right now."

Spencer hastily obeyed and was back in just two minutes having peed and washed his hands and once Spencer had cleared the bathroom Hotch went in did his business and was back in less than a minute totally naked.

"Good, now that we've done that it's time to do what I've been wanting to do since I met you this morning. Lay on your side," Hotch ordered gruffly. "This first time I'm going to take you from behind."

Spencer obeyed hastily, although he got a brief glimpse of Hotch's naked body before he did and he salivated almost literally, for while he knew that his boss was a very handsome man about 10 years older and that he had broad shoulders and long legs, you couldn't really tell much under the suit he had worn when the two of them had first met mere hours ago. Now though he could see that Hotch did indeed have long, slim legs that were well muscled, that his chest was broad, his stomach flat, his arms also muscled, which showed that he worked out rather heavily and frequently to stay in such terrific shape.

"This is going to hurt when my Knot starts to grow," Hotch warned his mate gently kissing the side of his neck where he would leave a permanent mark. "I'm going to leave a permanent mating mark on the side of your neck where I kissed you and I expect you do the same for me. These marks will never go away completely, though they will fade over time. These marks will tell other werewolves that we are taken and will make them back off."

Spencer said nothing simply offered the side of his neck, which told Hotch that the wolf had taken over his mate's body and that Spencer had released him from his prison as he couldn't imagine his soon to be lover knowing to do that.

"Damn no lube so this is going to be rough," Hotch muttered in frustration. "I didn't expect to find my mate, so I wasn't prepared."

"There's a bottle of liquid soap in the bathroom," Spencer mentioned.

"Ah, good idea," Hotch said, hastily rising to his feet and going into the bathroom returning just a moment later with the bottle of liquid soap in his hand. Hotch hastily slathered his cock and then put the bottle on the bedside table for later use.

"Ready?" Hotch asked.

"Yes," Spencer answered his voice steady.

"Alright then, here we go," Hotch said knowing that he had no time for foreplay, as he was holding himself back through sheer force of will. He didn't want to make this first penetration even rougher than this was going to be anyway, because he knew that his mate was a complete virgin, just from his attitude and he wasn't heartless. When his Knot started to expand on it's own, as he could feel it starting to do already he knew that if he didn't get inside his mate's body before it grew any larger then he wouldn't be able to get it all the way inside. He knew immediately that he didn't have time to be gentle as the wolf in him was already howling in anticipation and panting eagerly, silently demanding he get on with it.

Hotch positioned his cock at his mate's entrance and slowly pushed it in an inch at a time. He could feel the Knot that was part of every male werewolf's penis grow even larger and he knew he needed to complete the penetration in the next few seconds for the passage inside the body whether male or female was extremely narrow. Although the anus or the vagina would stretch like elastic, he still needed to be completely inside his mate's body before his Knot grew any bigger.

Spencer moaned and whimpered as the pain as well as the pleasure shot through him in equal measure with the movement of Hotch's cock in his body and he knew that the older man wasn't even all the way inside yet.

Hotch paused to see how his penetration was affecting his submissive partner and once the pain in his passage had subsided Spencer scooted backwards and Hotch got the silent message.

Hotch pushed his cock in again this time going to little farther, a little deeper, hitting Spencer's prostrate for the first time, causing Spencer to go into a spasm of pleasure so strong that it nearly made him go over the edge of his slowly building climax.

"Like that do you," Hotch his tone gruff with desire and lust.

"More!" Spencer begged. "More, Hotch! More!"

"With pleasure," Hotch growled finally pushing his cock all the way into his mate's tight, warm, welcoming passage to the hilt, which caused him to groan in pleasure. He realized immediately that he had accomplished his goal just in time, because the Knot had just enlarged to such a size that Hotch knew it never would've been able to get past his mate's very narrow passage if it had gotten any larger. As it was it had been rougher then he would have liked, but his Knot had a mind of its own.

Hotch leaned down as his mate groaned in pain as well as pleasure and with one hand ran it through his, Spencer's hair while he kissed the side of his mate's neck, his fangs extending.

"I love you so much Spencer Reid, I will never stop for as long as I'm alive and will treasure you for the rest of my life, because I know I'm one of the lucky ones that have actually found my mate."

Spencer felt happy tears prick the corners of his eyes even as his climax reached its peak.

Hotch's Knot swelled even more to where it was as big as an upside down apple and the tip of his penis seemed to taper and drive into his mate deeper still.

"Oh, Hotch, it hurts! It hurts so bad!" Spencer cried this time tears of pain leaking out of the corner of his eyes to run down his cheeks.

"Shh! You'll be alright. I warned you that it was going to hurt, but the pain won't last I promise you," Hotch soothed, as he kissed the side of his mate's face and neck several times. "Soon you will be begging me to lock you as often as our time allows, just wait and see."

Finally Hotch had an inspiration and grabbed Spencer's cock with one hand and gave it a long firm stroke. Spencer's cock had swelled unnoticed by the younger man and the Knot was very prominent, although not as big as his, but then he was an Alpha male and Spencer was not. Hotch gave Spencer's manhood a second stroke, moving his hand up and down on it. He also squeezed the Knot gently causing Spencer to go into such a spasm of pleasure that he forgot all about the pain that he had been feeling just a few seconds ago. He went over the edge of his climax and his cock released it's seed all over the floor and even onto the side of the nightstand as it spurted out his cock like bullets.

"Ahh!" Spencer screamed, as the pleasure overtook him, so that he didn't notice the pain he had been feeling, as it had been overcome by pure pleasure.

As his mate was lost in pure earthshattering pleasure, Hotch shoved his cock forward as far as it would go and then backwards until it was stopped from going any further by the Knot. He hit his mate's prostrate again and again, each time making Spencer's building climax even more intense, so intense in fact that he didn't even notice when his Knot hit the entrance of his narrow passage, causing a sharp spike of pain, or that Hotch's cock would go no farther since it was too big to pass something so small. Hotch knew that his mate would be tender and sore for a few hours, but that he would want to do it again and as often as possible. He had no doubt about that at all, just as he had told Spencer a few minutes ago. He knew his mate would be begging for him to Lock his cock inside him as often as time allowed and Hotch for one would be happy to oblige with anything his, Spencer wanted in that area.

Finally Hotch could hold back his climax no longer and so spurted his seed into his mate's passage for the very first time, at the same time he bit down on the side of his mate's neck instinctively, just like he had been planning to do from the beginning, leaving Spencer with a permanent mating mark. Instantly he felt as if a part of him he hadn't even known was missing snapped into place in his soul, making him feel complete and whole.

Spencer's screamed again, as he felt his boss's fangs bite down on the side of his neck and then he went into another climax, though it wasn't as intense. Damn he had never had two such strong climaxes close together, but then again he had never had sex with another before. He always saw to his own needs, but not anymore for his own climaxes at his own hands were very weak and subdued compared to the ones he had just had at the hands of his boss Aaron Hotchner.

As soon as Hotch had released his seed into the younger man's body Spencer felt as if a puzzle piece had snapped into place in his soul making him feel complete for the first time in his 23 years. Now he knew with absolute certainty that he and Aaron Hotchner belonged together just as the older man had told him and now he regretted having resisted for so long, even if it just a matter of minutes. He knew that if Hotch hadn't forced the issue he never would have agreed to make love or believed the explanation he was given. But then he hadn't been raised in a pack after he was seven either and if he had been he was sure that he and his brothers would have learned this stuff at some point.

Finally Spencer's climax subsided and he opened his eyes to find his boss's face leaning over him with a tender expression.

"You were right," Spencer said sounding completely sated, but also exhausted. "We belong together. I felt exactly what you described, it was like a puzzle piece clicking into a place I never knew was empty until it was already filled. You are a part of me now and there's no way I could ever leave you for I know now it would destroy me if I did."

Hotch's expression changed from tender to a full blown smirk at his mate's words and he said, "Good, because believe me, I feel exactly the same way, as I could never leave you, since it would destroy me quite literally, not just figuratively. Now, I hope you realize that was just the first round, because we are locked together now and neither one of us can move more then an inch or two apart until my Knot has shrunk back to normal as I told you downstairs. I am quite literally locked inside your body or at least my penis is, but since my cock is part of me, that just means that neither one of us will be going anywhere for awhile."

"I don't care how sore it makes me, I want to do it again and as many times as you want to," said Spencer a little boldly causing Hotch to kiss the side of his neck in silent agreement. "I want you to go harder, faster, I want you to release your seed into me again so bad I can almost taste it."

"Good," Hotch said extremely pleased, "and trust me, I won't be the only one to initiate sex, as I want you to be confident enough to do that, although I realize that will take time and experience as you're only 23. Oh, and Spencer I want you to call me Aaron and not Hotch at least private."

For some reason being allowed to call his boss by his first name pleased him no end and he wasn't exactly sure why that was just that it did

"Now back to what we were doing," Hotch said, as he got back into position and started fucking his mate hard and fast, exactly as Spencer had asked for, moving his cock back a few inches until the Knot hit Spencer's tender entrance causing him to bite his lip and cry out in pain. Hotch then pushed his cock forward until he was again buried in his mate's young body all the way to the hilt, but this time while it caused Spencer to cry out, it was with extreme, intense pleasure that action brought. Hotch sped up, so soon he was fucking his mate as hard as he could as he had only satisfied the wolf in him temporarily earlier. Spencer was giving little grunts and whimpers of pain as well as pleasure until finally his mate released his load all over the floor again and Hotch released his second load of the night into his young, tender body that had never before been touched so deep inside until now.

"You are mine, my property, my mate, my lover, I own you heart, body and soul," Hotch murmured in his mate's ear with a growl of possession in his voice, even as he continued to fuck Spencer as hard as he could causing equal cries of pain and pleasure to escape his mate's lips.

Hotch continued too murmur words of domination and ownership into Spencer's ear, as he continued the process, of giving his mate exactly what he had asked for and that was a hard, fast fuck.

"More, oh, please! God more!" Spencer cried his voice strained with pleasure, pain and ecstasy all mixed together.

Finally, Hotch released his seed for the third time that night and he knew that he was just getting started as spurt, after spurt, after spurt dumped into the young body of his mate. Spencer vaguely realized, as the feelings of intense pleasure in his belly had intensified at least tenfold, that Aaron had released more seed into his body in the last few minutes then was within the capacity of any human male. Spencer also realized in the back of his mind as he went over the edge of his fourth climax of the night that he and Aaron weren't even halfway done and wouldn't be surprised if they had sex over a dozen times before morning finally arrived and he could hardly wait as he had never known making love or fucking someone senseless as Aaron had said could be so pleasurable. He was actually looking forward to doing it as often as time allowed.

"Ahh! Aaron!" Spencer cried as he had yet another earthshattering climax, his fourth one of the night and finally Hotch collapsed on his side of the bed exhausted and fell into slumber, with one arm thrown protectively over his mate's slender body. Spencer closed his eyes and fell asleep as well, also exhausted, although both knew that it wouldn't be for long, just that they needed time to rest and recover, before doing it again and again throughout what remained of the night.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

Aaron Hotchner awoke with the dawn, opening his eyes as he felt a warm body curled up next to his own. As Aaron studied the handsome young man that was still lying facing away from him his memories came flooding back from the night before and he smirked in satisfaction, the wolf within his chest, feeling very smug and satiated, really more than satisfied. He and Spencer Reid had made love so many times last night that he had lost count, although he knew it was at least a dozen, with a few breaks for short naps in between. Hotch knew that if his mate had been a woman he would soon be swelling with a whole litter of pups, but unfortunately, it went against genetics, even though he would've loved to have had pups by his mate.

Hotch stretched gently and gazed down at the man that had become the center of his world as soon as he had walked into his office at work just yesterday. Hotch tried to sit up and succeeded as his cock slipped out of his mate's tender recesses. Spencer never even twitched and Hotch knew that the young man must be exhausted, but then he wasn't much better.

Hotch stood up from the bed gently and checked every single one of his muscles to see how sore he was, but he was hardly sore at all, just like he'd had a particularly heavy workout, which was good. However, he was absolutely exhausted and he knew that this mate was going to be very sore for a few hours and he would be lucky to be able to walk until he had healed up a little. Luckily werewolves healed fast.

One consequence of the mating was that both parties were exhausted afterwards and they would be sleeping a great deal until Monday, but it was the Alpha's responsibility to be strong enough to take care of his weaker partner. No matter how his legs were shaking, or how exhausted an Alpha was as he had to prove he was strong enough. Hotch was as tired as he had ever been in his entire life, a kind of drugged, heavy exhaustion that made him want crawl back into bed and cuddle up against his mate for the rest of the week. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible, as he had a responsibility to the young man who lay curled up on his side, deeply asleep. Hotch walked slowly into the bathroom, feeling as weak as a newborn pup, turned on the water for the tub and put the plug in. Once that was done Hotch left the water running and walked slowly back into the bedroom to see Spencer still curled on his side of the bed fast sleep and he picked him up cradling the long lanky form in his arms, tenderly kissing him on the forehead while smirking down at him in satisfaction.

Hotch had never expected to meet his mate at all as he was over thirty almost 12 years older then the man in his arms. Hotch had figured if he was ever lucky enough to meet the person that was meant for him he'd be at least in his late 40s not just 35 and his mate would be a woman, not a man. Then again his father would have beaten him until he was bloody if he had dared bring another man home as a boyfriend back when he was growing up, so he had never explored the possibility that he might not like only women, but men to. It didn't really matter as Hotch had been well aware that his mate could be either sex, even if he had always believed that it would be a woman, it didn't matter, because he was perfectly happy with the man laying in his arms, even if he would never be able a have pups by him.

It didn't matter if you believed your sexual orientation only swung towards the opposite sex, because when a werewolf met his mate they could very well be the same-sex you were. Since he had been aware of this possibility he had no trouble accepting that another man was his mate. Hotch made his way slowly into the bathroom and then gently lowered his mate's lanky form into the warm water before shutting it off.

Spencer's eyes blinked open at the feel of the warm water and he started to panic, until his golden brown orbs identified Aaron Hotchner causing him to relax again.

"Shh! Relax!" Hotch cooed tenderly, carding his fingers through his mate's hair gently. "You're bound to be incredibly sore as I told you last night."

Spencer sighed and closed his eyes again and simply lapped up the warm feeling of contentment and love that had wrapped itself around his very soul. As little sense as it made logically he knew that Aaron Hotchner loved him and had from the moment he had walked into his office... had that just been yesterday? The thing was however, that he loved the other man to, which really made no sense if you thought about it logically, but that didn't matter, because for once his absolutely logical brain had nothing to say on the subject.

Spencer felt Hotch run a washcloth gently up and down various portions of his body and eventually even in between the digits of his toes and his fingers, until finally Spencer felt Aaron rub some shampoo into his hair running tender hands all over, massaging his scalp as he went, making sure to wash silky strand, which felt absolutely heavenly.

Finally Hotch pulled the plug on the tub and lifted his mate into his arms after standing up and then Spencer was carried very tenderly into the bedroom, where he was placed gently onto what was now his side of the bed.

Spencer started to shiver from the cool air that hit his wet skin until he was patted dry with a soft towel and then the light sheet pulled over him.

"Sleep now," Hotch told his mate gently running a hand through his dark brown hair that looked black now because it was so soaked with water.

Spencer didn't respond just curled onto his side and slipped into a deep slumber.

Hotch watched his mate sleep for awhile, but then went into the bathroom, took a quick shower, before going into the kitchen to fix some soup.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

Hotch woke up his mate gently to feed Spencer chicken and rice soup bite by bite, even as Spencer protested, because he was struggling to stay awake. Hotch was gently persistent however, until finally Reid gave in and ate the soup and drank the large glass of water and as soon as he was done he was allowed to close his eyes and go back to sleep, which he did immediately.

Hotch kissed his mate on the side of his neck, tucked the covers up under Reid's chin, went to the kitchen ate some soup himself, cleaned up and then went back to the bedroom to curl up beside his mate flinging an arm around the young man's waist protectively before falling asleep himself.

The two of them slept deeply for the rest of the day, but by dinnertime Hotch was up and around, although he was still exhausted and would be for at least another day.

Hotch got up Reid not even stirring and started for the kitchen, where he fried up some bacon and cheese sandwiches as he wasn't in the mood to do anything complicated. As he worked he whistled cheerfully and thought about how to introduce is mate to his five brothers and three sisters, though he had adopted them so he supposed that technically, they were his sons and daughters. All of them certainly called him daddy and he hadn't bothered to correct them since he'd been looking after them since they were born.

The two nannies he had hired had been doing a good job of keeping them occupied while he had been busy with his mate, so he knew it was a good thing that he had called them from his office before the end of the shift on Friday. Lisa and Maddy had certainly been astonished when he told them the good news about finding his mate, but even more so that his mate was male by the name of Spencer Reid.

It wasn't that it was exactly uncommon to have a mate the same-sex you were, it had just been a surprise to them, because he had never dated his own sex before and stuck exclusively to women, not that he had dated much at all really. He hadn't even really been looking for his mate, who had just walked into his life totally by coincidence and he couldn't happier about that. Hotch thought about the team and how he and Reid would handle their relationship with them around.

All of them tended to be nosy and butt into each others lives, but he was sure that Reid wouldn't mind keeping their relationship private at least for the next year or two. Spencer was going to have to maintain his apartment and the two of them were going have to spend at least sometime over there, although not much. Hotch was sure that Reid wouldn't mind basically moving most of his stuff over here and only keeping enough at his apartment to keep up the pretense. Once he and Spencer had known each other for a year, maybe two, they could gradually start to show their feelings to the team, so that none of them would be surprised when they eventually got together. Also he needed to introduce him to the Alpha of the area if Reid had not done that himself, although he doubted it considering how he had been treated by his own pack when he had been a child.

"Daddy, I'm hungry," came the voice of one of his son's who seemed to have a bottomless pit for a stomach.

"Didn't Lisa and Maddy feed you?" Hotch asked going to pick up his son.

"Yes, but I'm still hungry," the boy whined plaintively looking up at Hotch with his innocent hazel eyes.

Hotch looked down at his brother in amusement and noticed how much he looked so much like him and his siblings and thought about his birth along with his brother and sisters. Hotch had been astonished to learn that his 50 year old mother had been pregnant. He knew it was possible to get pregnant that late in life, but it was still a pretty rare occurrence, even among werewolves and he had been even more astonished to discover that it had killed her as she had died of complications from the c-section.

She had been pregnant with nine children, which was in itself was utterly astounding, because normally a wolf only got pregnant with anywhere from 2 to 6, and occasionally just one. Unfortunately, the ninth, a girl had died of complications. The doctors had told him that it was due to her age as well as getting pregnant with so many. Hotch hadn't been aware that his mother had taken any other lovers since his father's death, but he supposed it made sense in hindsight as he couldn't see her being a nun for the rest of her life.

His father had died at just 50 years old and had been 10 years older then his mother, which wasn't uncommon when a marriage was arranged. Hotch know that his mother had been married at barely 18 and had never gone to college as his grandparents had never seen the need as they had been extremely old fashioned when it came to things like their daughters marrying as soon as they were grown.

The law of course, dictated that children had to be educated at least through high school, but after that they didn't have to go to college and his mother never had because of his grandparents influence. Hotch knew that by the time his mother was twenty he and his three siblings had been born and after that his siblings had come along every year, sometimes two. Hotch was sure that his mate would be astonished to discover that he had nearly 30 siblings. His father had been extremely fertile even for a werewolf as had his mother because they'd had several sets of quads, quintuplets and even sextuplets, along with the more normal triplets.

Hotch was actually surprised that his mother hadn't died in childbirth like happened to so many women who had multiples, even ones that were werewolves, but she had survived each time, mainly due to having a c-section every time. By the time she was 30 she was done having children and refused to have sex unless his father used a condom or let her have her tubes tied, neither of which his father had agreed to and so they'd been cold war with each other for the last ten years or so of their marriage.

He couldn't really blame his mother in the slightest for hating his father since he had been a rather cruel man and who saw her as nothing more than a baby factory. He had 28 siblings, with two sets of sextuplets, two sets of quads, one set of quintuplets and one set of triplets, all just during six pregnancies in the space of twelve years, which was excessive in his opinion, but then that had been his father all over. Hotch hadn't really mourned his father when he'd had a heart attack at just fifty, just as his other siblings hadn't. He had never imagined his mother having other lovers, since she had been the classic battered wife of a powerful husband, but now he knew it was likely that she'd had several lovers over the years after his father's death and the last one had gotten her pregnant at the age of 50 with nine pups, even if one of them hadn't survived.

Hotch was actually pretty amazed that only one of his mother's pups had died and the other eight had survived, even if they'd had to stay in the neonatal unit for awhile. When he had learned from his mother's lawyer that he had been named his half siblings guardians he had also learned that his mother had been pregnant and never told him or anyone. Hotch hadn't minded the responsibilities since he had never married and always wanted a few pups and thanks to his mother leaving him quite a large chunk of the money his father had made over the years and also the fact that he and his five siblings were the oldest he would never have to work at all if he didn't love his job.

His parents had been quite well-off and not just from his father being an attorney, but because they were two of the few that hadn't lost their money in the stock market crash in 29. Each one of his siblings had received at least $2 million apiece, which was quite a lot since there was 28 of them, with him and his five siblings who had been born at the same time receiving a larger chunk because they were the oldest.

Each of his five siblings as well as himself had received about $10 million apiece. Also the lawyer had told him that trust funds had been set up for all 8 by his mother and the ninth one had been funneled back into the other eight when one of them hadn't survived on his mother's instructions beforehand. So his mother had instructed the lawyer to set up nine trust funds which meant his mother had known how many she was going to have and had refused to have them reduced or aborted as he was sure her doctor had suggested.

Hotch had wondered a few times over the years if his mother had loved this man that she had gotten pregnant by or if the man himself even knew about his pups, but he would likely never know so it would just have to remain a mystery. In any case, her 8 pups had about 5 million apiece to their names, which meant his parents had been far richer than he had believed as they didn't even count the trust funds that had been set up for him and all 28 of his siblings, which had more in them than they could ever spend unless they went on spending sprees and wasted millions. His parents must of had around $350 million dollars maybe more.

"Here you go, champ," Hotch said putting his son down at the kitchen table and putting a cheese and bacon sandwich in front of him. "Be careful not to burn your fingers, it's still hot."

His brother bit into the sandwich being careful not to burn his fingers with obvious pleasure

"So where the rest of your siblings?" Hotch asked the small boy.

"With Maddy and Lisa," the boy answered.

"Do Maddy and Lisa know that you escaped?" Hotch asked him with a raised eyebrow.

The boy shrugged in answer, but Hotch knew that none of his sons and daughters could get out of the house on their own, because of the way the doors in this house were. All the doors were way to heavy for a five year old to open, even with their werwolf strength, but unfortunately, they weren't going to work much longer because they would soon be old enough and strong enough to open the doors themselves.

He was going to have to get electronic locks installed, something that a clever child couldn't get past without the proper code. His children were extremely mischievous and he didn't want them to come to harm just because he was gone all the time. Sure, Lisa and Maddy looked after them well, but still there were a lot of them and it wouldn't be hard for one of them to slip away while the two nannies were distracted.

Well, other families managed without the extra heavy doors, or electronic locks so why couldn't he? But then most parents weren't gone a lot of the time for work either or had so many pups the same age.

"Gareth, buddy we're going to have another person as a permanent part of this household," Hotch told his son.

"What do you mean, daddy?" Gareth asked with the normal curiosity of any five year old.

"Well, you know all about Lifemates from me and Lisa and Maddy, right?" asked Hotch.

Gareth nodded eating his bacon cheese sandwich rapidly. In fact, his son was practically inhaling it, which caused Hotch to smile as his son reminded him so much of himself at that age.

"Well, I found mine totally unexpectedly," Hotch said. "He's going to be a permanent fixture in our lives now."

Gareth screwed up his face as if trying to understand. Hotch knew that all his children were perfectly intelligent, but they were also only five years old and some concepts were harder to understand when you were so young.

"So he's going to sleep with you?" Gareth asked scrunching up his nose in thought.

"Yes," Hotch answered, not bothering to explain, since his son was only five years old after all and was much too young to know about what adults did when they slept together.

"Will he be like an uncle?" asked Gareth next.

"Something like that," Hotch agreed.

Hotch looked back behind him as he suddenly heard footsteps on the stairs in time to see Spencer slowly making his way down holding onto the rail and from the way he was walking Hotch knew that his mate was still incredibly sore from their lovemaking session, but that would heal in a few more hours.

"Good afternoon," Hotch greeted his mate with a smile.

"Afternoon," Spencer groaned as he sat down in one of the chairs in the kitchen table gingerly.

"This is one of my sons, Gareth," Hotch introduced with a smile kissing his son's cheek. "Gareth, this is my mate, Spencer."

"It's nice to meet you, Gareth," Spencer said, as he examined the little boy who looked a great deal like his mate, which wasn't surprising really given what he had been told. The boy's hair was black like Aaron's and he had the same general features nose, chin, cheeks, the eyes however, were a hazel instead of the dark brown and the shape of them wasn't the same as his mate's either.

"Meet you," Gareth said shyly.

"He's shy, particularly around strangers," Hotch said Spencer nodded remembering being shy at Gareth's age and in some ways he was still shy depending on the situation.

"It's not all that unusual," Spencer said, "Not at his age anyway."

"Gareth, I think it's time for you to go back upstairs now," Hotch told his brother gently. "I'm sure Lisa and Maddy know that you're missing by now."

"Ah! Dad! Do I have to?" whined Gareth.

"Yes, you have to," Hotch told him, but with a smile to take the sting out of his words.

Spencer watched this with a smile and saw how gentle his mate was being with his brother, even though he could tell that Hotch thought of him as a son and Gareth certainly thought of Aaron that way, which wasn't surprising really since he had raised him from the time they were very small, really from the day they were born.

"So how do you feel?" Hotch asked Spencer as soon as Garrett was back upstairs.

"Tired," Spencer admitted quietly, as he took a bite of the bacon and cheese sandwich that Hotch handed him, "despite the fact that I slept for most of a day. A little sore too, although that's mostly faded."

Hotch nodded for he had expected nothing else at least not from what he knew from other mated couples. It was actually common practice for the Alpha of your pack to take a group of pups of both sexes of the proper age aside and explain exactly the facts of what they would experience once they were mated and had sex for a whole night or day depending. Of course, girls and boys would be told separately and the male Alpha of the pack left the explaining of the effects of the mating to his wife or an older female pack member if he wasn't married or mated or if his wife was human, but only if the parents weren't available for whatever reason.

"Yes, I'm still tired myself," Hotch said, even as he came and sat beside his mate, with a whole plate of bacon and cheese sandwiches that he placed on the center of the table.

Spencer eyed the plate and then asked, "Why did you fix so much? Isn't it just going to go to waste?"

"Trust me, even if we don't eat them all, which I consider unlikely, the rest will be eaten by the eight children in the house. All of my children seem to have bottomless pits for stomachs and I also tend to eat a lot to, but then it takes a lot of food to maintain my body considering how big I am and how much energy I expand. I know you and your brothers likely didn't eat as much as you should have growing up as a werewolf needs a certain amount of meat a day and they need more when they are young then when they are older in order to help them grow up big and strong. From what you've told me your father never bothered to impart these facts to you or your brothers or left you anyway to support yourselves, so you had to resort to pickpocketing just to survive. Meat is important to a growing werewolf, but once you are grown, although you will always crave it, you don't need to eat as much. Really, if your father didn't teach you what you needed to know like he should have then the pack in your area that you and your brothers should have been part of should've taken on your father's responsibilities. It is one of the Alpha's duties to make sure all pups are taken care of and taught all they need to know and make sure they are trustworthy to not reveal the secret of what they are. It shouldn't have mattered that your mother was human, because in most packs it is perfectly acceptable to marry a human and in fact is encouraged even if your Lifemate can only be another werewolf. It happens a lot actually, because it's pretty rare for a werewolf to discover their mate, especially if they stay with their original pack and don't travel."

"So another werewolf usually doesn't find their mate within the same pack," Spencer said, having listened to what Hotch was telling him intently absorbing the information.

"No, they don't," Hotch said shaking his head. "Most packs aren't over 300 to 400 werewolves anyway and usually about a quarter of those are pups, although it varies from pack to pack of course. Some werewolves do discover their mate within the same pack, it's just not very common that's all. Most werewolves have relationships with one of their own kind, but they don't usually ever get married to each other unless they are mates, and they're usually also very careful not to have pups and the male usually uses a condom when they have sex. However, it's not uncommon at all for a werewolf to marry a human as only about 30 or 35% ever find their mates and we can believe just like a human that we are truly in love, even if we know in the back of our minds that that person isn't the one that is really meant for you. I really don't blame other werewolves for that attitude as all they want is to be happy and perhaps, have a few pups along the way and many human werewolves marriages work out just like a human married couple does."

"But some don't like my father and my mother," Spencer said sadly.

"Yes, I'm afraid not as in that way we are just like humans and are capable of leaving our spouse for the stupidest of reasons," Hotch admitted. "Not Lifemates like you and me of course, but just two people who get married because they truly believe they are in love. I have even known a werewolf, a female, in this case, has been married about four times, at least last I knew and that's even more than David Rossi my former mentor when I first started at the BAU."

"I bet you there are a lot of children involved," Spencer said looking sad.

"Yes, about 15, between the four, but unlike your father, the mother does her best to keep in contact with them and they know what they are, as do her former spouses."

"15 children," Spencer almost choked as he thought about that. "That's a lot even if it's with four different men."

"She was only pregnant about 5 times, as her pups were all multiples of one type or another, which is quite common among werewolves, really the norm, because in that way we are quite like a regular wolf and single births are rare among us. I'm not saying that our species don't have single births sometimes it's just not very common."

"Your half siblings, being a case in point," Spencer said looking pointedly at the stairs. "You said you were going to tell me the story behind why they're living with you."

"So I did," Hotch said taking another sandwich from the plate that's sat in the center of the table. "Really, it's pretty simple, my father died while I was still in college and although I didn't know this for sure until I learned about my half siblings I suspect that after his death my mother had several lovers. Normally, when two werewolves marry, especially if they're mates they'll never marry again once their mate dies and for the most part they live a kind of half life until their death.

"However, in my parents case, there marriage was arranged, which is really quite common even among humans in certain circles. A lot of werewolves of a certain mindset don't care about love only about carrying on the bloodlines, which is also something some humans suffer from. What this means is that there is often at least extreme dislike between the couple. My parents had quite a few children, all multiples of one sort or another, but by the time she was 30 my mother refused to have anymore and unless my father used protection or allowed her to get her tubes tied she refused to have sex with him.

"My mother is actually quite lucky that she didn't die from all the births within about a 12 year period, as she got married at 18, against her wishes I might add. Her parents didn't believe in sending a female to college and believed that she should be married as soon as she was of legal age to do so. The laws, of course, dictate that a child has to be educated at least through high school as I'm sure you know, but one doesn't have to get a higher education."

Spencer nodded for he did indeed know that.

"My father really died quite young, especially for one of our kind and he and my mother were in a state of cold war for the last 10 years or so of their marriage, because my mother absolutely refused to have sex at all, unless my father complied with her wishes which he wasn't about to do. I wouldn't be surprised if my father had several lovers over the years or even kept a mistress, although that's just an educated guess considering I know what kind of man my father was before his death. My grandparents weren't any better, so I suppose he came by his cruelty honestly. Suddenly almost six years ago I got a call and was told that my mother had died and that she'd had nine children before she had done so, even if only eight of those survived," Hotch said.

"Your mother must've been at least in her 50s," Spencer said doing the math in his head, "and it is rather unusual to have children that late in life, although it is still possible for some woman to remain fertile that late."

"She was 50 on the dot actually nearly 51," Hotch said. "I was surprised to learn that my mother had been in another relationship after my father, because I had never thought about her as having needs like that, but in hindsight it makes sense. I'm not sure if my mother ever had any relationships while my father was still alive or if she started having lovers after he was dead, but it wouldn't surprise me if she did have a few lovers before my father died, because how can you go 10 years without relieving your sexual frustration, even if you don't need to have sex as often when you get over a certain age, or even want to unless you already have an active sex life? And of course, this doesn't apply to Lifemates who always constantly want each other, but in a normal relationship if you're staying married out of obligation or for another reason like your pups..."

"Yes, I know exactly what you're talking about," Spencer said quietly as he remembered the coldness his parents had towards each other his father especially. "My mother had schizophrenia and once it started manifesting my father became cold towards her. Neither me or my two brothers were really surprised when he left as we were very mature at seven and more aware of what was going on around us than most other children are. We were also smart enough to understand that our mother's illness would probably end with our father leaving, especially because we could see he wasn't handling it very well staying out at all hours... I wouldn't be surprised to discover if he had a few lovers on the side. I might even have some half siblings for all I know or he might even have remarried, because I'm sure my father has found out about my mother's death by now."

"Your mother's dead?" asked Hotch in shock.

"Committed suicide the day me, Trevyn and Dylan turned 18. It was if she knew that we were of legal age and didn't want to put up with finding herself in a fog anymore, because that's what schizophrenia does to really intelligent people, like my mother, who was a literature professor for many years. As I said schizophrenia affects the mind and it's like you're in a dream world and you don't want to take care of yourself or even get out of bed somedays and you really need somebody to watch you constantly. In any case, in her lucid moments mom urged us to go and get an education and that she would be fine, even if the three of us knew it wasn't true. Still, we went to college and we tried to call her as often as possible to make sure she was taking her medication which had been prescribed, but the thing is that you start feeling so much better with medication that you think you don't need it and so don't take it, which only creates a vicious cycle."

The pain in his mate's voice was heartbreaking and Hotch silently put an arm around him in support.

"You still miss her?" asked Hotch rhetorically, because he already knew the answer.

"Yes, because for the first 5 or 6 years she was the best mother you could wish for. She would read to all three of us, stuff that I know now wasn't really appropriate for children. The things she read us was stuff that she gave her class when she still taught, stuff from the 15th and 16th centuries in particular. I suppose that she encouraged a love reading in all of us. I don't want to sound callous, but I don't really miss my father at all, because he wasn't much of one, not even from the time we were really small and why am I telling you this since I barely know you?"

"It's the bond," Hotch told him quite calmly silently cursing his mate's father and his pack in his head, because Spencer should've been raised knowing this stuff and so should Trevyn and Dylan. "The bond between mates is very strong and you instinctively know that you can trust your Lifemate with anything and that they will never betray you. It's the wolf in you urging you to let out all your pain and sorrow that you have been keeping bottled up for years, because that part of you knows you can trust me, as it has better instincts then the human part of you."

"Yes, I do trust you," Spencer said slowly after a moment, "which is really surprising considering I've only known you for like what? Two days? I feel as if I can tell you anything and you'll never tell anyone else at least not without my permission."

"And I won't," Hotch swore, "just like I know anything I tell you you'll never say anything either."

"No, I won't," Spencer said actually surprised at his answer.

"You need to stop thinking so much and just trust what you feel, although I know that's probably difficult for you, since I know you don't usually go with your feelings, but with your logic," Hotch told him.

"I'll try," Spencer promised.

"That's all I ask," Hotch told him gently. "I don't expect you to be perfect, because nobody is, but believe me, when I say I want to go to Las Vegas and wring your father's neck. However, when a wolf fights they do it openly and not in such an underhanded way. If I get the opportunity I promise you I will make your father regret ever being born and the Alpha of the pack that made you and your brothers outcasts for no other reason than your mother was human too. In the pack I grew up in that never would have happened, but very occasionally a bad Alpha gets control of a pack, although thank goodness it doesn't happen very often."

"Would you kill him?" asked Spencer in a very small voice.

"In a heartbeat," Hotch told him quite seriously. "You don't seem to doubt that I could do it?"

"Well, I can already tell that you physically stronger than my father is," Spencer explained. "My father is pretty tall and broad of shoulder, but he doesn't have your muscles, but then as far as I know he doesn't exercise, as I'm sure you do to keep in shape and also he doesn't have your fighting skills since I know what's required to pass the Academy. I know Friday was my very first day at the BAU, but you know most agents don't survive very long if you don't have a sharp mind and good physical skills and no, I'm not counting myself in that at least not where the physical skills are concerned."

"There is his natural werewolf strength," Hotch said and Spencer nodded.

"Believe me, I'm aware, but he really doesn't stand a chance against you. I do have a question for you though," Spencer said.

"What's that?" asked Hotch with a raised eyebrow.

"Would you kill him if he has found his Lifemate and had pups?" asked Spencer. "I'm not saying it's very likely, just that it's possible."

"No," Hotch said immediately, "as I wouldn't want his mate, whoever she is, to die as she wouldn't deserve that and neither would any pups, who wouldn't deserve to be made orphans. I would still teach him a lesson, but I would leave him alive for that reason alone, not because he deserved it. The Alpha however, if its the same one that made you and Dylan and Trevyn outcasts he will feel my wrath and would not survive the encounter, which is perfectly within werewolf laws."

"But that would mean if he has a mate she would die," Spencer said looking upset. "You told me yourself that werewolves don't marry other werewolves unless they're mates at least not from the same pack."

"Yes, I did," Hotch admitted, "and for the most part what I said is true, but it does happen occasionally that two werewolves of the same pack will marry each other whether or not they are mates, although most don't since it can lead to inbreeding. However, this is why the Alpha of the Las Vegas pack making you and your two brothers outcasts doesn't make any sense, because our species would have died out quite a long time ago if we hadn't mated with humans along the way. I doubt very much that most of the werewolves in the Las Vegas pack will find their Lifemates within the werewolves they grew up with. It is possible certainly, just not very likely. The Alpha is risking extinction of the pack in that area within a few generations, unless he changes the rule to where werewolves of the same pack can have pups with other werewolves who aren't their mates and risk humans finding out about us."

"So it's illegal to have children with other werewolves unless they are mated?" asked Spencer in surprise.

"It's not precisely illegal, just strongly discouraged," Hotch explained. "The females of our kind want to know who their pups belong to and who will support them, since in most ways we are just like humans and we have jobs where we can only support so many pups by ourselves. Also it's possible that a werewolf will get some human pregnant and that they will die during labor or shortly afterwards. It's even possible that the father will never find out about his pups and those pups have no idea that they have to change on the full moon and neither will the mother if she's human. Not only does that risk our secret getting out, it's also possible that the mother will kill her own children thinking they're possessed or something equally ridiculous."

"So we change for the first time about two?" asked Spencer.

"Yeah, as our bodies can't stand the strain of our first transformation until then," Hotch agreed.

"I never thought about the way that some human female like my mother could get with werewolf pups and the father never finds out. I'm sure great tragedies have resulted from that in the past, which is probably why female werewolves don't want to get pregnant until they have found their mate or at least until they are married, even if that is to a human. I wouldn't be surprised to discover that the pack of what area that happens in kills off the human involved as they wouldn't want to risk that human talking," Spencer said.

"It has been known to happen," Hotch admitted. "It's not a practice I approve of, as I think it would be simpler and more ethical to just to take the person involved, usually female into the pack, at least in certain circumstances."

"One where the mother accepts that her children are going to be a little different and that werewolves are real," Spencer suggested with a twinkle in his golden brown eyes.

"More or less," Hotch admitted with a smile of his own realizing that his mate was extremely perceptive and intelligent, but then he would have to be for Gideon to pull him directly into the BAU, as they only accepted the best.

"So to change the subject you mentioned yesterday that we need to act normally around the team at least for the next year or two," Spencer said.

"It wouldn't be wise to reveal our relationships since the two of us just met," Hotch explained his reasoning and Spencer nodded.

"Yes, I agree," Spencer said. "However, once we've known each other for year or two we can gradually let our feelings be known."

"To the team sure, but not to Strauss, as she would find some way to legally separate us. Trust me, when I say she hates me, I've never been able to figure out the reason, but then again I've never bothered to try."

"Will Morgan, JJ, Garcia and Gideon accept that we are in a relationship?" asked Spencer worriedly biting his bottom lip.

"The first three sure, but Gideon probably not. Gideon has many fine qualities, but I've known him for years and I know that he's against same-sex relationships and we can't exactly reveal that we are Lifemates or werewolves."

"I hate to keep it from him not to werewolf thing as I understand why that can't get out, but the fact that we are in a relationship," Spencer sighed eating his third bacon and cheese sandwich.

"We won't be able to keep it from him, at least not forever, but he won't approve, I can guarantee you that," Hotch said.

"Well, I would hate to put a strain on our close relationship, however, you were right when you said that Lifemates need to be together and while I would hate to lose Gideon's friendship, he's not essential to my happiness, but you are," Spencer said empathetically. "You were right about that."

Hotch was extremely pleased with his mate's words and proved it by kissing him on the lips passionately and quite thoroughly causing Spencer to blush, but still, melt into the kiss immediately.

"I'm glad you admitted that you couldn't live without me, just like I couldn't live without you," Hotch said with a smile.

"Well, I've always tried to be honest, even with myself and I definitely felt something snap into place in my soul just like I told you yesterday," Spencer said. "The wolf in me knew it long before the human part of me did or at least would acknowledge it and as you said if I had been raised in a pack like I should have been..."

"Then it wouldn't have been an issue," Hotch concluded and Spencer nodded.

"No, it wouldn't have," Spencer admitted softly eating his fourth bacon and cheese sandwich. "My god, I've never eaten so much at one time in all my life."

"You should have been eating even more meat, beef in particular, when you and your brothers were growing," Hotch told him.

"So you said," Spencer said, "and I admit that my brothers and I were often hungry back then, although not anymore."

"I hope I meet your father one day and that he's not mated, so I can kill him," Hotch growled looking suddenly ferocious. "Even if a werewolf's pups are had out of wedlock, which does happen sometimes, they are taken care of by the entire pack, if the parents aren't available. I can't believe that your father didn't care enough about you or Dylan or Trevyn to at least provide for you."

"It's water under the bridge," Spencer told him calmly. "However, I certainly won't object if you want to kill him, so long as he isn't mated or have a lot of small children to look after."

"If he does have pups, it would be better for us to take them then in, then for them to be raised by that man," Hotch growled. "He already failed once when it came to raising three small pups, so I can't see him doing any better with even more pups to raise. Besides, I doubt even if he stuck around he'd do a half decent job and they would probably grow up prejudiced about all manner of things like same-sex couples, which is a ridiculous thing to be prejudiced about, especially for werewolves whose Lifemates can be either sex."

"Well, there's no point of worrying about it at the moment since there is nothing we can do," Spencer said. "Still, if we do happen to discover that he has a lot of small children I wouldn't mind getting to know them, although I'm sure my father would object and so would the pack Alpha, if it's the same one."

"You know there is a way to find out," Hotch said.

Spencer raised an eyebrow and question.

"You could have Garcia do some research into your father's history for the last five years ever since your mother died at 18," Hotch said.

Spencer considered that then shook his head. "Maybe in a year or two once I get to know the team better I'll consider it, but since we just met I don't think that's a good idea right this minute. I have no reason to trust any of them right now and it will take awhile to develop that trust. Yes, I know you believe that the team is trustworthy and I believe you, but still Garcia would consider it a strange request considering we have just met."

"A point," Hotch acknowledged.

"In a year or two maybe after we reveal our relationship I can ask Garcia to do that, but until then, it's better I think if we keep it to ourselves," Spencer said, as he sat back patting his stomach, feeling very full. "I've never eaten so much in my entire life I can't believe I ate half a dozen bacon and cheese sandwiches."

"I'm glad to see it happen actually, though I've only known you for two days. I could tell when you entered my office that you were way to thin for your height and your muscularity. In other words, extremely malnourished, although you don't actually have any ribs poking through your skin or anything, but it was clear to me that you didn't eat enough and when I found out about your childhood it all made sense. You really need to start eating more than you do and pretty soon it will become habit, even if you feel very full for awhile, as it will take your stomach awhile to expand."

"Well, when my brothers and I became pickpockets we never took very much from one person," Spencer admitted. "We went after people that looked as if they could afford to lose a few dollars and some cases probably didn't even notice it was missing. However, we never took more than 5 or 10 dollars from one target."

"So what did you do with the wallets afterwards?" Hotch asked intrigued despite himself.

"Well, depending on the situation we either turned it into lost and found and told them that we had found it and the owner was nowhere in sight, as we went to the mall or somewhere else equally busy a lot, since it was easier to fade into the crowd. Occasionally though, we would return it to the person we actually took it from in the first place and we would get an extra reward for returning their property. I'm not very proud of what I, Dylan and Trevyn had to do in order to survive, but what choice did we really have? I mean it's not like we could allow adults to know our situation not since we had to transform into wolves on the full moon and there was a good chance that we would have been separated and placed in different homes which would've been just as bad, so no, we had to do what we did in order to survive."

"Absolutely none," Hotch said with certainty. "Normally, I would turn you in for admitting to being a pickpocket, although the statute of limitations on that has long since expired and it would at least get you thrown out of the FBI, but I do understand what you had to do in order to not die, because your pack didn't take you in like they should have. It was their responsibility to make sure you had everything you needed to grow up big and strong and decent members of society, if your parents couldn't do that. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the Alpha has since been overthrown by the other members of pack, because I'm sure at least one Alpha has challenged him by now and possibly even won."

Spencer thought about that then nodded. "It's very possible, since I know that not all the pack agreed with him. However, I'm not sure any of them were brave enough to challenge him, even if they thought he was wrong because at the very least they would be thrown out of the pack, although they were probably killed if that occurred. I can't see anyone challenging him more than once, especially if it resulted in that Alpha's death as he would have the rest of the pack to afraid to challenge him."

"Yes, there have been Alphas in the past that have ruled by fear and intimidation instead of respect, but hopefully, somebody has already taken care of him. So you never did tell me the name of the Alpha that made you and your two brothers outcasts," Hotch asked casually. "I could find out myself, but I'd rather you tell me."

"I'll tell you if you promise not to do anything about it, at least right now," Spencer said. "We just found each other and although I know you can probably take care of him, I still want your sworn word that you won't go looking for him at least for a year or two."

"I promise," Hotch said, "further I swear that I won't do anything to him without at least consulting you first since it's something that we need to deal with together. I would never go behind your back on something like this as that's a good way to ruin your trust in me and I don't want that—ever."

Spencer studied Hotch and then nodded. "Good, because if you break my trust, my mate or not, I'll never trust your word again. I'm not one of those people that trust easily and you can thank my father for that, as his betrayal cut me to the core, even if I knew in my head that he really didn't care about me or Dylan or Trevyn, his own sons."

"I can certainly understand that," Hotch said with a nod the wolf in him howling in despair at the thought of his mate not trusting him. "I will never betray your trust."

"Alright then, the Alpha's name is Mack Burke. He looked around thirty when I met him many years ago when I was about four and I could feel that he hated me, Dylan and Trevyn for no discernable reason that I knew of at that time or now. I mean the three of us were only four for god sakes, who can hate a four year old?"

"So if he was around thirty at that time, he'd be about 49 or 50 now," Hotch mused.

"Probably, but I only estimated his age," Spencer warned, "and I was only four years old at the time."

"But you weren't just an ordinary 4 year old, you were a genius 4 year old and more intelligent at that age then 99 percent of other people are and your memory is also eidetic, which meant that you never forgot," Hotch said.

"True enough," Spencer said blushing at the compliment

"Besides, you remembered his name all these years and 99 percent of children your age at the time would have nothing but vague memories of ever meeting him if that if they had only met him once at such a young age," Hotch said.

The two men fell silent for a minute and then Hotch rose and headed for the living room Spencer following.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	3. Chapter 3

Part 3

"So I think it would be a good idea to maintain your apartment at least until the team knows that we are together," Hotch said, "but I want you to officially move in with me, even if you have to maintain your place in order to keep up appearances."

The two of them sat on the couch pretending to watch a movie, but they were really necking rather heavily. It had been decided that there would be no more making love until they both weren't so tired anymore, which would be at least tomorrow, which would of course, be the day they had to return to work.

"Yes, I agree," Spencer said. "Even after the team knows it would probably be a good idea to maintain it, just because of Strauss, if everything you have told me about her is true then we just don't want her finding out about us. I doubt very much that I'll be over there very often, really just often enough for people to see me and to maintain my presence in the building. I will be perfectly happy to move all my stuff over here, not that there's much really just a few clothes, toiletries and a lot of books. Besides, I really don't want to be parted from you anymore than necessary, as it's going to be bad enough on cases when we have separate hotel rooms, just to maintain appearances."

"Now why doesn't that last surprise me?" asked Hotch sniggering. "I know we've only known each other for a few days, but the way you've gone through my book collection looking at titles and even reading a few of them at wrap speed, told me that reading was likely one of the few ways that you had to enjoy yourself after your father left."

"It was and in fact, I'd go to a bookstore and read some book at warp speed and nobody who caught me doing that could believe that I was absorbing information like a sponge. They believed that I was just looking though it to see if I wanted to buy it, but what they actually thought I was doing and what I was actually doing were two different things. I didn't actually start collecting books until after I was in college, when I started tutoring other older college students to help pay certain expenses. Yes, my college education was paid for, but not anything extra like going to the movies, buying extra reading and things like that."

"How did you and your brothers actually get up to MIT in Massachusetts?" asked Hotch. "I mean you couldn't drive and didn't have any extra money for the train or a bus, so how did you do it?"

"Well, actually my brothers and I had been saving ever since we were about 10 years old, so that we would have money to take the train or bus if we did get into college. All three of us knew that it was likely that we would be going to college early simply because we were speeding through high school at that point. All the classes were dead easy for all three of us and all of us have genius IQs, although it varies a few points between us. We had several offers from various colleges, but we all wanted to go to the same one, since it would be easier for us if we had someone who understood about the werewolf thing, you know what I mean?"

"Yes, wolves crave companionship of their own kind, even if it's just your brothers and sisters, especially during the full moon," Hotch immediately agreed.

"Exactly," Spencer said. "We know that we would do better together than apart, so we decided that we were all going to go to the same college if at all possible. In any case, what we did was start saving money, a dollar here, a dollar there and by the time we actually did go, well we had enough for the train. Also the three of us picked up odd jobs because the people of our neighborhood knew us. Oh, not that our mother wasn't taking care of us as we were careful about never mentioning that, but that we were looking for ways to earn extra money and every single cent we did earn was saved. I believe the neighbors thought that we were saving up for something special, you know like tickets for a music concert or something similar and so were glad to help us out and we just didn't disabuse them of that notion."

"Yes, a lot of 10-year-old look for ways to earn extra spending money," Hotch admitted, "so that was a good strategy. You couldn't do it when you were younger as it would have seemed rather odd for a seven or eight year old to need extra cash like that, but not at ten or eleven as that meant you are about to hit your teens and might need the cash for something that interested you, like a new pair of shoes from some sports star as that kind of thing is popular with teenage boys, back then as well as today. I well remember when they came out with a pair of tennis shoes that they called Air Jordan's that Michael Jordan endorsed, you would have been about 3 at the time. There have been a series of them, under different names ever since the 1980s and I'm sure that will continue for quite a few more years."

"At least until Michael Jordan retires from playing basketball or loses his popularity," Spencer agreed. "I remember Trev telling me about them as he's always been more into sports then I am. Personally though, I prefer reading to watching TV, although I did watch movies and other TV shows occasionally with my brothers back then as they were always urging me to relax a little and that I didn't have to study all the time. I have to admit that I've always liked Dr. Who as not only are the scripts good the special effects are excellent considering when it first started production was 1963."

Hotch made a mental note of that as perhaps, a gift for his mate at some point because he doubted Spencer had the DVDs or even the VHS and had probably just seen them on TV and he also doubted very much that Spencer had seen all of them if it had started that long ago and probably just some of the more recent episodes.

"You know it just occurred to me, to wonder how you paid the bills, you know electricity and so forth," Hotch said.

"Well, mom certainly wasn't capable of doing that," Spencer admitted after a moment with a sigh. "However, we were lucky and all the bills were paid automatically out of my mom's account. My mother made quite a tidy sum before she couldn't teach anymore and it was more than enough to pay the electricity, hot water and other utility bills. My brothers and I probably wouldn't've had to pickpocket if we'd had access to that account."

"Didn't your mother have the lucid moments?" asked Hotch.

"She did, but they were few and far between," Spencer said with another sigh, "and unfortunately, her lucid moments never lasted very long, an hour sometimes two, but no more than that. It's possible that me and my brothers could develop it you know, but I know you won't leave me like my father did with mom. It usually occurs between 25 to 40 in males, but once I reach that age the danger has mostly passed, as it is rare for somebody approaching the middle age to get the disease, although it has happened, of course."

"What's the likelihood that you'll inherit it?" asked Hotch.

"Just 13%, because only my mother had it, but now if my father had also had it as well or at least the gene for it the odds of at least one of the three of us getting it would be 50%."

"13% that's not too bad," Hotch said. "Besides, being a werewolf will protect you from a lot of things, although I'm not sure if the protection from that particular disease, but it probably does. I've never known a werewolf with schizophrenia, but it's a pretty rare disease. Still, it's possible that our kind can't get it."

"Well, I'm going to worry about it on and off for the next 17 years until I turn 40 as the odds decrease to 3 percent for me to get it past that date."

"You know I need to teach you to drive," Hotch said after it had been silent for a few minutes. "I can understand you not learning, before since you went to college at 13 not to mention you had so little money, things are different now though and it's a useful skill to have."

"Why when I can just catch a ride with you?" Spencer said reasonably

"Because, you'll want to go out on your own and you can't always catch the subway," Hotch told him sternly. "I mean what if you want to meet me at some restaurant, it would save you the trouble of catching the subway or a bus, or me coming to pick you up. Sometimes you are going to want to go out on your own to the bookstore or to meet a friend for dinner, because as close as mates tend to be they still need time away from each other, even if that's only a few hours. Besides, subways are dangerous, especially at night as there is a great deal of crime associated with them, muggings and the like."

"Yes, I know the statistics for being held up or mugged on the subway," Spencer admitted. "Now that I'm making plenty of money I suppose it's time I learn to drive. I never had the money for lessons and definitely not for a car until now. Memorizing the manual isn't going to be a problem for me."

"Which is half the battle," Hotch said, "and as intelligent as you are you should be able to pick up driving easily. I'll teach you as I said, and all I ask in return is for you to be part of my life, which I know you already agreed on, so essentially I'm charging you nothing."

"Thank you," Spencer said leaning over the kiss his mate on the cheek which Hotch accepted with pleasure.

"You're more than welcome, because I think it's a skill that everybody who's of age should acquire, but I understand why you and your brothers did not, but then your situation was rather unusual."

Spencer snorted at that. "I wouldn't be surprised if Mack hasn't thrown other children out of the pack, just because one of their parents was human if something happened, and they didn't have a werewolf protector anymore, whether that's their mother or their father or an uncle or aunt. You know I've wondered on and off over the years if Mack just convinced my dad to abandon his family or if he did it on his own free will. I can see the Alpha convincing my father not to stick around and that his marriage to my mother Diana was a mistake and therefore, so were his pups."

"That's possible," Hotch conceded. "Of course, it's also possible that he did it on his own free will and I consider that the more likely possibility. Personally, I think he couldn't handle your mother's illness when it got so bad and so he ran away leaving all you to fend for yourself."

"Yes, it is a more likely possibility, but until I learn otherwise I'm going to keep in mind that my father could've been ordered by Mack to abandon his family, because from what I know of him he's petty, selfish and a very poor leader. Even I know that an Alpha has to keep what's best for all the pack in mind, even the children of parents he doesn't like for whatever reason. There's no way that my father would be able to resist the command of the Alpha since he was only a Beta himself and from what I know of the three ranks a very weak one."

"If that's what happened then it's a gross misuse of the position as leader of the pack," Hotch growled. "If he was caught doing it then he could be legally overthrown as it's against our laws. Of course, what happened to you and your brothers was also a gross misuse of his power as well."

"If the other werewolves of the pack aren't to afraid of him to do that," Spencer said his skepticism coming through, "and someone would have to catch him at it as you just said, probably several someone's in order to make it stick. It would have to be someone in the pack that no one would doubt was telling the truth."

"Well, we'll just have to go see what the situation is that some point, although it can wait awhile," Hotch said. "So looking forward to work tomorrow?"

"Well, I am, then I'm not," Spencer said. "I just know it's going to be hard to act normally and to be away from you, especially if we catch a case, as we'll have to sleep separately and I'm not looking forward to that at all."

"Neither am I," Hotch said, as he pulled Spencer closer to him, "but it's only for a year, possibly two and hopefully, we'll be so busy in that amount of time, that it will pass quickly."

"It's too bad we can't let the team know about our relationship right away, but you're right that wouldn't be a good idea since technically, we just met and there is no way to explain us falling in love after having just met each other," Spencer said, enjoying his mate's possessiveness. He'd never believed he would want to be possessed at all, but with Aaron Hotchner he definitely didn't mind and in fact his inner Omega rivaled in it.

"Well, there is such a thing as love at first sight, but still in this case, it isn't a good idea, since mostly that just something that authors thought up for their novels, although it has been known to happen to humans who fall in love as soon as they meet," Hotch said.

"I need to tell my brothers about you and when I do you can expect 20 questions when you meet them. I might be the oldest, but we are very protective of each other which is understandable considering how we grew up. They'll want to make sure you have my best interest in mind so try not to get offended if they grill you."

"I will not get offended," Hotch promised. "I am an Alpha male and therefore, technically, I am higher in rank then you are since you are only an Omega. However, they are your family and you're very close, so I promise I will answer all their questions honestly and completely as they are just looking out for someone they love. Now if someone questioned me about our relationship that didn't have the best of intentions and was just trying to be nosy, well, that would be different. Someone's intentions will have a lot to do with how I respond to someone asking questions about our personal life."

"Good," Spencer said pleased. "How do you know I am an Omega?" Spencer asked next now that he knew that his mate wouldn't get all fierce and aggressive with his brothers.

"It's the way you comport yourself," Hotch explained calmly. "From what I've seen of your personality you're very easygoing and laid back and embarrass easily and the way you reacted when I was aggressive with you in my office on Friday told me more than you realize. I can't believe that none of the werewolves of the Las Vegas pack explained this stuff to you, as it's things you should have learned when you were growing up. You, Dylan and Trevyn should have learned our history, our laws, our traditions, your place within the pack, you should've been taught how to hunt, move silently in the forest, so you could spring upon your prey and so many other things."

"Well, you're going to teach me, which I'm grateful for, but still I was denied so many things and so were Dylan and Trev," Spencer said sounding melancholy.

"Believe me, I know and if I have a get my hands on certain people they'll never be found, much less identified," Hotch growled.

"Aaron, while I appreciate, you are in law-enforcement and therefore, shouldn't be talking like that. Neither should I for that matter," Spencer said. "I don't mind if you teach my father a lesson, since he more then deserves it and he won't dare report you, but we are both members of the FBI and therefore, we should not be thinking about killing unless it's in the line of duty."

"You'll learn soon enough that werewolves think differently from humans," Hotch told his mate with a fierce grin that caused a hot streak of lust to go through Reid's form like lightning as his mate's grin did pleasant things to his insides. "Yes, I believe in justice, because I never would've joined the FBI if I didn't, however, I am also a werewolf and justice in this case would be killing the pack Alpha if it's the same man and also the father who abandoned his family for no legitimate reason. Us wolves have different priorities than humans do and we don't put a wolf in prison because that would be torture to one of our kind, not to mention we have to change on the full moon and the humans would definitely notice. No, our justice is swift, harsh and permanent. What the Alpha Mack Burke of the Las Vegas pack did to three pups, well, it should have been dealt with then, but it wasn't, so I will see that he and your father finally gets what he deserves."

"When you put it like that," Spencer said thoughtfully not at all appalled at what his mate was saying, but then the wolf in him thought that what Aaron was saying was what should have been done in the first place. "Yes, I can see where you're coming from. I'm sure you know how to get rid of the evidence, so it isn't tracked back to you."

"Trust me, there won't be enough left to identify, even with today's technology," Hotch snorted. "We werewolves are always thorough when it comes to something like that since keeping our species a secret is paramount. We always burn the bodies and once they are nothing, but bones we grind them up to ashes and dump them somewhere like a lake. Think of it like cremation."

Spencer winced, but he could definitely understand the necessity of it, because it would be impossible to know they even had been a murder since their would be no evidence. If there was one way to make sure that a body wasn't identifiable it was to burn it and then grind up the bones afterwards, but only if you couldn't get the fire hot enough to actually cremate them he was sure. In a way it seemed rather barbaric, but then real wolves were wild animals and werewolves were similar in many ways.

"It is also a way to dishonor those who don't stand by our tradition or our laws as we would rather be buried in the earth, since we spend a great deal of our time in the forest," Hotch added.

"It seems rather...barbaric," Spencer said giving voice to his thoughts of a few seconds ago. "I can understand it, but still..."

"We are a rather violent species, Spencer," Hotch admitted, "We can't afford to let a werewolf go rogue and that's exactly what the Alpha Mack Burke of the Las Vegas pack has done, even if he's not killing humans or other werewolves. Every single pup in most packs, no matter their origins are treasured and looked after by the entire pack. You and your two brothers were thrown out for no reason really, other than your mother was sick and human, which usually leads to the suicide of the wolf or wolves in question. I suspect the only reason you survived, as I told you earlier, was because you had your brothers for support and vice versa of course. The term lone wolf is really a misnomer as most wolves can't survive without companionship of their own kind, especially not at such a young age. You had committed no crimes and you were only seven for god sakes! Seven! I mean no pup can be legally made an outcast and thrown out of the pack until they're at least 18 and it's only happened in this part of the world a couple a dozen times, but certainly not in recent memory."

"Shh, Aaron!" Spencer soothed understanding why his mate was so furious. "There's no reason to get so angry on my account, because it's all in the past as it happened over 16 years ago."

"You might be able to get over what the pack in Vegas did to you, but personally, I'm going to give Mack Burke exactly what he deserves and your father to. You're an Omega and they're usually very gentle and forgiving, although they can be tough as well when something really gets them angry or the situation calls for it. As an Omega you can actually swing between the three ranks when necessary, although it is also a learned skill. Most Alphas though refuse to swing downwards as for one thing it goes against their nature and quite frankly it is hard to act humble or have humility, because it just isn't in an Alpha's personality. Alpha's are strong, commanding, always knowing what to do in most any situation and while some tend to be bullies that is not an Alpha's true power. A true Alpha knows how to give orders and have them be obeyed out of respect not fear. Some Alphas tend to hold grudges, although not always or even mostly. As for me I don't hold a grudge once I put somebody in their place because it is a waste of time and energy, well, not unless it's against someone that's worth holding a grudge for like against your father or Mack Burke. You might not like to admit it, but both of them hurt you and your two brothers for no reason at all really. They hurt your mother to, although she was likely too lost in her gray world to really remember it or even acknowledge it. Your mother would likely still be alive, if your father had taken care of her like he was supposed to, because it was his responsibility."

Spencer listened and knew he was learning a lot about the world of werewolves, which he was technically, as he did so and he knew it was something that he should've learned as a child.

"I know I barely know you despite the fact that we are mates, but I can't imagine you ever being humble," Spencer admitted.

"Being truly humble goes against my nature, although I can act it if I have to, but it wouldn't fool most intelligent people, just those that are to dense to not see through the act. It is certainly a skill I've had to acquire to act meek as it does come in useful on the job occasionally. Many Alphas have refused to learn this skill, because as I said it goes against our natures to act like a Omega. All three ranks have their strengths and their weaknesses."

"And you're likely right about my mother still being alive if she had been taken care of, although schizophrenia does tend to shorten a person live anywhere from 10 to 25 years, depending on the severity and whether or not it's under control with medication," Spencer said. "I know I should be grateful that she didn't take her own life until after me and Dylan and Trev were all grown up, however..."

"18 might be of legal age, but it's hardly grown up as most people boys in particular are still very immature at that age. I'm not saying you or your brothers were, just that even though the government considers you adult it takes a few more years normally for a person too do that. Most people at that age are just starting their college education, even if you and your two brothers went at 13," Hotch interrupted.

"You're right about that," Spencer admitted remembering his own college experiences. "I was way more mature at 13, as were Dylan and Trev, then a lot of those older kids in college."

"We should probably head up to bed as we are still tired from the mating and we have to work tomorrow," Hotch said, as he turned off the movie that had finished playing, even if they had talked though most of it.

"That's a good idea," Spencer said with a sudden yawn. "You just mentioning going to bed has made me tired."

Hotch rose from the sofa and took his mate's hand pulling him to his feet. "I won't be surprised in the least if we were called on a case first thing tomorrow, so we need all the sleep we can get, especially since I don't expect I'll sleep well when we are in separate hotel rooms."

"I'm not looking forward to it either, although we both know it's necessary for at least the next year or two," Spencer said.

The two of them headed upstairs and to their nice, big comfortable bed.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

"So how was your weekend?" Morgan asked their newest teammate, genuinely interested in the answer.

It was bright early Monday morning and it had been decided by both parties, that they would start coming into work together early enough that the others wouldn't have arrived.

"It was fine, Morgan," Spencer answered calmly. "I didn't really do much of anything except read, and watch a little TV."

It wasn't a complete untruth, more an omission, for he had read and watched TV, but he had just left out that Aaron was there the whole time and while the two of them had necked some after their initial mating they hadn't done more than that for they had been to exhausted and in fact, he and Aaron had slept a great deal. Besides, he couldn't exactly tell his new teammate that he and their boss were mates and that they had spent all of Friday in bed fucking each other senseless, so he simply told him only part of the truth.

It was going to be hard Spencer knew to act normally at least for the next year or two, before he and Aaron could gradually let their secret out. Aaron was lucky in the fact that he had his office to retreat to if he was having trouble keeping himself together not that Spencer saw that as a possibility, but still, he'd manage because he had to. He had to take into consideration that he was considerably younger than Aaron Hotchner and so his libido was going to be very demanding and harder to control for the next few years. He was going to have to do his best to think of the man he had already come to love so deeply as nothing more than his boss, which wasn't going to be the easiest thing to accomplish since he definitely didn't think of Aaron that way.

"Shouldn't you be out doing things since you don't know the city?" Morgan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm still just moving into my apartment, Morgan," Spencer told his new teammate. "I've only been here long enough to find me a place to live. I did, after all go, directly into the FBI Academy when I got here after I'd been accepted of course."

Which was only thanks to Jason Gideon, Spencer knew. Of course, Gideon had also helped him find an apartment that was in his price range and he had even been nice enough to let him stay at his house until the start of the Academy, but Morgan didn't need to know that. Gideon had urged him to stay at his place in his guestroom for as long as he liked, but Spencer had wanted a place of his own and Gideon could hardly blame the younger man he had come to consider a son for that.

Spencer had planned to find a bigger place in a few years once he had been working awhile, but now he knew he wouldn't have to do that, although he would have to maintain his apartment for the time being just to keep up appearances. Once he and Aaron could reveal their relationship in a year or two that would no longer be necessary. Well maybe it would because of Strauss, Spencer considered.

"Besides, I have every single map of the area memorized and I can probably find my way better than you can," Spencer stated not bragging just stating fact.

Morgan snorted that and said, "I've been living here for years why do you think you can find your way around better than I can?"  
"Eidetic memory," Spencer told Morgan quite calmly. "It's a very rare talent that only a very small percentage of the human population have. What that basically means is that once I learn something I never forget it."

Morgan well knew what a eidetic memory was and was surprised that his new teammate had it. He also knew it was a talent that would come in very useful in their jobs.

"Once you've gotten settled in why don't you let me show you the town and we can get to know each other a little better?" Morgan suggested.

"What do you suggest?" Spencer asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought maybe we could go to my favorite bar after work and have a few drinks," Morgan suggested. "We can invite JJ, Garcia, Hotch and Gideon."

"I'm not much of a drinker, Morgan," Spencer told the older man. "I did go to college at 13 after all. I wasn't even of legal age to drink by the time I graduated at 20."

"So this is a good opportunity to work on your tolerance levels and see if you like it at all," Morgan urged him.

"I'll consider it, but I won't give you a definite answer right now. Besides, we may very well catch a case and the idea will be mute," Spencer said. "I don't plan on making it a habit to have a constant hangover. I can live without drinking for the rest of my life, because believe me, I know the statistics."

"So any siblings?" JJ asked, as he came out of the office.

"Two," Spencer said calmly, "Dylan and Trev."

Spencer didn't bother to supply anymore information.

"Older or younger or both?" asked Morgan.

"I'm the oldest by about five minutes, as we're triplets," Spencer replied. "Fraternal, not identical."

"Wow! Triplets were pretty rare back in the 80s when you were born," JJ said looking impressed.

Not in werewolf families they aren't, Spencer thought to himself. Triplets or more were quite common in werewolf families even when a werewolf married a human or at least that's what Aaron had told him and it made sense because real wolves very rarely had single births, although it did happen occasionally, but usually real wolves had at least twins and it was usually quadruplets. This was why Aaron's mother had had so many because thanks to her wolf biology and the fact that she was older when she had gotten pregnant with nine even if one of those had died. Spencer was actually amazed that eight of Aaron's mother's pups had survived and that only one had died considering it was a very unusual event. He had since learned that werewolf pups tended to be pretty hardy, although they could still die and did, just not as frequently as human babies, especially multiples.

"Well, my mother was over 35 when she had us and believe me, that has a lot to do with it," Spencer said with a shrug. "Scientists have discovered that a women tend to release more than one egg by that age as a woman's biological clock starts slowing down around then and therefore, that female is running out of time to reproduce if she hasn't already done so. More women are now getting pregnant in their late 30s and therefore, there are going to be more twins, triplets and other multiples in this day and age. The reason more women are getting pregnant in their late 30s is because medical technology has improved a great deal and it is safer than it used to be to get pregnant so late in life, although things can and do still go wrong of course."

"You sure do know a lot about it for a man," Morgan teased him.

"I am a man of science of facts and figures," Spencer told him calmly ignoring the teasing. "I read a great deal and I'm not just talking about what other people read for pleasure."

"So you don't read mysteries or thrillers or some other genre, but books with facts in them," JJ concluded and Spencer nodded in confirmation.

"I also subscribe to quite a few newspapers and at the speed I read it doesn't take me anytime to go through them," Spencer said.

"Don't you take time off just to relax?" Morgan asked.

"For me reading is relaxing," Spencer told Morgan calmly.

"What about watching basketball or football on TV or actually going to a game?" asked Morgan.

"That's always been more Trev's thing than mine," Spencer said with a shrug. "My brother is more into sports then I've ever been. Trev's always preferred basketball to football or soccer."

"Now there is my kind of man!" Morgan exclaimed who loved basketball. "I'm going to have to meet this brother of yours sometime as I have a feeling we could become pretty good friends.

"I don't know when you'll get the chance as they don't live in the Washington or Virginia area," Spencer said. "Trev lives in New York, moved there as soon as he graduated college and Dylan is in Florida."

Spencer didn't bother to mention that he had contacted both his brothers and explained that he was together with another man and about the mate bond. His two brothers had been disbelieving at first, but Spencer had assured them that it hadn't been forced and that he was happy. Yes, technically, it had been forced since Aaron had known more about the subject the he had, but now he wouldn't have it any other way, even if at that time the human part of him had been extremely unsure. Spencer knew that he could a expect a visit sometime in the very near future, just to make sure that he was truly happy, despite what he had told them over the phone. Besides, you could lie over the phone, if you know what you were doing, but it was harder to lie in person, especially if you knew that person well and his brothers certainly did know him very well.

"I'm sure you'll meet them at some point as we have no intention of losing contact and we do intend to visit each other too, but you never know, as I know my schedule at least will be pretty uncertain, while Trev and Dylan went into careers that are more 9 to 5 then mine is going to be."

Before JJ or Morgan could ask another question Hotch emerged from his office as did Gideon and Spencer did his best to act normally around his mate and not drool in front of the rest of the team, for Aaron looked absolutely scrumptious in the blue suit he had chosen to wear that morning.

Calm down, Spencer told his now very active libido silently. Now is not the time.

The wolf in him subsided with a grumble, although he continued whining plaintively with his paws over his nose.

"Round table room, we caught a case," Hotch announced calmly, winking at his mate when he was sure none of the others were looking.

Spencer, Morgan and JJ immediately headed for the conference room that Garcia had dubbed the round table room, because of the large round table that took up most of the space.

Although Spencer didn't show it in his body language or expression he was very excited to be going on his first case, although he was also sad that he and Aaron wouldn't be able to sleep together tonight, but it was the sacrifice they both were willing to make for their jobs

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	4. Chapter 4

Part 4

"So are you happy?"

This question came from Spencer's brother Trevyn. Spencer had been unsurprised to discover that Trevyn and Dylan had come into town while he had been gone on his first case as he had expected nothing else. His two brothers had already been in town for several days by the time he and the team had gotten home from Philadelphia and he had known this, because they had sent him constant text messages and they had been keeping in contact that way for the duration of his absence. His brothers had known the minute he had landed and he had told him that he would meet them anywhere they liked as he didn't know the city that well yet.

Sure he had all the maps of the area memorized, and he could get from point A to point B with no trouble, but he didn't have any favorite restaurants, or bar that matter since he's been in the area such a short time. Oh, sure, he'd been at the FBI Academy at Quantico, but it wasn't as if he had a car to go places on the weekends or friends that would agree to transport him. No in fact, the other cadets had resented him if not hated him, so he hadn't made any friends. He had done his best to be as inoffensive as possible.

Finally they had decided that this discussion was private to risk going to a public place and so they were sitting in his living room at his rented apartment, even if he hadn't spent much time here in the last few days.

"Yes, Trev I'm very happy," Spencer promised his brother. "Aaron completes me in every way. Believe me, he got downright furious when he heard about my childhood and how the pack didn't take any of us in like they should have. He was amazed that we had survived since as wolves are pack animals, which includes werewolves as well. His theory is it's only because we had each other, that we didn't just commit suicide."

"So do you believe this mate thing that Aaron told you about?" Dylan asked looking wistful.

"Yes, because the way my wolf reacted the minute I saw him...well, let's just say I had a hard time keeping control and not jumping his bones right there in his office. Aaron acted like it was the most natural thing in the world, but then he was raised within a pack and so he knew exactly what was happening, while I didn't."

"It seems a rather strange coincidence," Dylan said suspiciously. "You know how I usually feel about those."

"The same way all of us do," Spencer said, "but in this case, that's all it is, because a werewolf's mate can only be another werewolf."

"Which explains how dad was able to leave our mother and us too," Trevyn said.

"From what Aaron has told me in the last few days, Mack Burke was absolutely wrong to make us outcasts at seven years old, especially since we had committed no crimes. He has told me that nobody under 18 can be made an outcast and that it hasn't happened in the United States more than a few dozen times, not in centuries. If you had seen how angry he became you would not doubt his motives for a second. He was all for going up to Las Vegas and kill the Alpha in a fair straight fight and I believe he could do it to. I calmed him down though and asked that he not do anything at least for awhile."

"Your Aaron was going to do that for you?" asked Dylan in astonishment.

"For all three of us," Spencer corrected. "He said that what Mack did was wrong and was against werewolf laws and that if us wolves hadn't married humans we would've died out, since less than 40% ever find their mates and therefore, have pups. He said he knew the second he saw me that I was the one and since I'm good at reading body language, although I know I can refine the skill, I believe him. Despite the fact we didn't know each other more than a few hours before we completed the bond, I know he's trustworthy and he has promised to never lie to me about anything and I'm going to take that to the bank unless he proves that he's untrustworthy.

"I don't believe will ever happen because I know if we're ever parted on a permanent basis it would be like ripping half our souls away—for both of us. I will be the first to admit that we both still have a great deal to learn about each other, however, all the information I've been given in the last few days has told me many things and one of those is that werewolves who have found their mates never divorce or separate. They argue sometimes sure, just like all couples do, but they always make up afterwards with greater understanding of each other and don't let little differences come between them for long."

"I would really like to meet this Aaron Hotchner," Dylan said and Trevyn nodded in agreement

"Well, you're welcome to come back to his house with me, as he's looking forward to meeting you too, as I told him all about you," Spencer offered. "Of course, he didn't expect to meet you this soon, but I told him you would almost certainly come into town as soon as you learned of my relationship."

"Damn straight," Trevyn growled.

"We had to make sure that you weren't getting into something you couldn't handle, even though we realize that wasn't very likely. Still, we've been very protective of each other ever since we were seven years old and made outcasts from our own pack. We wouldn't have survived without each other, so your Aaron is right about that," Dylan said.

"Now that we know you're happy and believe me, we would be able to tell if you are lying or not, since you've never been very good at it, so we'll be happy to meet Aaron before we go back to our jobs," Trevyn said.

Trevyn was definitely the more aggressive one of his brothers, likely an Alpha wolf like Aaron, Spencer thought reflectively, while he preferred to be the peacemaker. Dylan, on the other hand, was the suspicious one and it took quite a lot to gain his trust. All three of them were alike in the way that if a person broke their trust none of them would ever trust that person again. The three of them were similar in many ways, but different to, which only made sense really, because while they were triplets, they were fraternal and not identical and a lot of identical twins were very similar in personality and sometimes fraternal ones were to, but not always.

"So how's the job going?" Dylan asked.

"Well, while being the mate of my boss was rather unexpected, things are going well. Unlike in high school and college all the team are intelligent and are willing to accept me for who I am and don't make fun of me or snide comments. At the moment I'm still on guard, but I'm making tentative friendships with all of them."

"Well, that's certainly a switch," Travis said with a wry grin

"We all know that children can be cruel to those that are more intelligent than they are and buck the status quo and even if we didn't mean to show off I know we did," Dylan commented, "although I will admit that you got the worst of it, Spence."

"That's in the past, but that's one of the reasons I've been so cautious with the team, because I don't want to make the mistake of trusting them until I'm certain that they are going to stab me in the back, well, all except for Aaron as he's the only one I trust. Aaron says I can trust them and I believe him, but still I'm being cautious until I'm sure."

"So why don't you tell us about your teammates?" Trevyn suggested.

"Well, there is Derek Morgan, a big black man," Spencer said. "He's our expert in sex crimes, particularly rape. I don't really know much about him beyond his specialty at the moment, but then I've only known him for a few days. I do not that he has two sisters, a mother and an aunt in Chicago, but other than that I really don't know anything at all. JJ or Jennifer Jareau is our media liaison, although she helps interview witnesses to. She's very pretty with light blond hair and big blue eyes, but also extremely intelligent just like everybody on the team. I probably could've got myself interested in her if Aaron hadn't gotten his paws on me first and now I wouldn't have it any other way. Then there is Jason Gideon, well I don't need to tell you about him since you met him back when we were going to college. The last member of the team well, besides, Aaron, is Penelope Garcia. She's the team's technical analyst and doesn't travel with us, as she stays behind and gives us all information to help us catch our unsub. She's a computer expert, and finds things that most people who know their way about computers likely couldn't. She's also blonde, but has brown eyes, instead of blue and instead of being slim like JJ she's bustier and bigger boned."

"And Aaron?" asked Dylan

"Aaron is a whole different story altogether," Spencer said with a decidedly goofy grin, as he thought about the man that had come to mean so much to him in the very short time they had known each other.

"Oh, our brother is in love," Trevyn said with a big grin.

"That has been obvious ever since he contacted us and told us about him," Dylan said. "Besides, you know that Spencer is too practical to get himself involved in a relationship unless he truly believes he's in love and as suspicious as I am I do know that he's too intelligent to get himself into a situation that would be dangerous, have his heart broken or possibly have him lose his position. I admit that I didn't expect to hear about him falling in love just a few days after he started his new job, but there is supposed to be such a thing as love at first sight, even if it doesn't happen very often. After all where would authors get their ideas from if it hadn't happened at least once somewhere in the world."

"Stop it you two," Spencer ordered them sternly and caused both his brothers to break into laughter.

"You always were to serious for your own good," Trevyn told his older brother. "I can understand it however, considering how hard our childhood was, but still you need to lighten up and hopefully, your Aaron can help with that."

Right on cue Spencer blushed a deep red causing his two brothers to laugh heartily at him.

"You are so easy to embarrass, big brother," Dylan teased him.

"And both of you take adverse pleasure in doing so," Spencer grumped back.

"Of course, we do we're your brothers and if anybody has a right tease you it's us," Trevyn said. "After all, none of us would have survived without each other."

"That's the truth," Dylan agreed a dark shadow crossing his face as he remembered that time where he hadn't been sure they would live to adulthood, but they had because of their intelligence. It had been all three of them that had decided that even though it went against their grain that picking pockets was the only way they were going to survive. Their father had left them absolutely nothing, and although the bills for the house utilities were automatically paid out of their mother's bank account from the money that she had made before she'd had to stop teaching, it still didn't put food on the table or clothes on their backs. They knew that although they were only seven years old that they couldn't afford to go to a foster home much less separate ones and so this had been the only way that they hadn't ended up on the street, although it bothered them to steal, but they hadn't really had any choice, if they wanted to survive. They had never taken more than 5 or 10 dollars from one person and most people didn't miss that amount, which was why they had gotten away with it for the six years before they went to college. They'd had quite the little racket going by the time they'd gone to college, but once they had started they had given it up without a second thought or a single qualm.

As soon as they had gone to college at 13 they had started tutoring since they were so intelligent and knew a great deal, about various subjects. Some of the older students were willing to accept tutoring from them in subjects that they were having difficulty with and that had brought in enough money for them to buy clothes and other necessaries. Of course, all three of them had learned quickly to always get the money in advance because some of the older students tried their best to get out of it without paying them and it didn't seem to matter that one of them was giving up their free time in order to help out, the older students who are 18 to 22 tried their best to cheat them. All three of them had had to prove again and again that they were nobodies fools, despite their young age.

"Those days are over," Spencer told his brother immediately guessing where Trevyn's thoughts were going. "Our father and Mack will get what's coming to them and if Aaron has his way he will be the instrument of that retribution. He truly believes that Mack broke pack law as he was raised properly for a werewolf pup and learned all the pack laws, our species history and traditions. I do believe that Aaron can handle our father although I'm not so sure about Mack, but it's likely that he can handle him to. I did make him promise however, that if our father had found his mate and especially if he had pups that he would teach our father a lesson, but not kill him."

"Personally, I think those pups would be better off with someone like us and not with their father considering that he already failed this pups once and just abandoned them without a second thought," Dylan snorted.

"Aaron agrees with you as he said something similar," Spencer admitted. "If that unlikely situation really occurs, then Aaron then I will deal with it when the time comes. Of course, he could've married a female werewolf that wasn't his mate and had more pups anyway, although Aaron says that doesn't happen too frequently. He said that if our kind hadn't married humans that we would've died out. Apparently, the blood gets too diluted after a few generations and while you might have a lot of the blood that allows the change, it is not enough to change shape into a werewolf. He said that you might feel the moon calling to you and perhaps, get headache when it's full and for a few days before and during, but that will be the only effects. Also he said that the reason that werewolves don't usually marry each other unless they are from different packs of course, is because of the risk of inbreeding. Most packs aren't that large and aren't more than 300 or 400 werewolves and about a third of those are children, so the risks of inbreeding is very high and in only a very few generations too."

"Yes, I see what you mean," Trevyn said slowly. "With that few people Aaron is right in saying that the risk of inbreeding would be extremely high. I'm sure a lot of the pack is related to each other in some way anyway whether that's cousins nieces and nephews, children or grandchildren."

"That's why Aaron said that it didn't make sense for Mack to throw us out of the pack just because our mother was human if that was really his reason or just an excuse," Spencer.

"It could have been because mom was so sick," Dylan offered. "I'm not saying that makes it right, just that it could've been his reason. The Alpha might have feared that we would come down with disease and the pack has no way to cope with someone who has schizophrenia. It's not like they could've left her in a rest home, because not only would that be very expensive I'm sure they wouldn't want to risk her talking about werewolves even if none of the doctors would believe her."

"I think Mack kind of jumped the gun to tell the truth because our mother might've had the disease it doesn't mean we would develop it and in fact the chances are very very slim," Dylan said.

"I would say so at only 13%," Trevyn snorted. "Now if our father had had it would've been around 50%, but since it was only our mother the chances of us getting it are nearly nonexistent."

Spencer let his two brothers talk and thought that he could sense even back then at the age of four that Mack hated them for some reason, but didn't say so out loud as he wasn't sure his brothers had sensed the same thing and there was no point of disturbing them further.

"So are you and Aaron going to get married?" asked Trevyn finally.

"Eventually yeah," Spencer admitted, "but right now we're keeping our relationship under wraps."

"Why?" asked Dylan immediately, "Aaron isn't ashamed of it is he?"

"You would never have suggested that once you get to know him," Spencer snorted causing Trevyn to grin. "Aaron, is an Alpha through and through and he would never be ashamed about admitting our relationship or displaying it in public. He's already made it clear if we didn't need to be so cautious that he would already be shouting it from the rooftops as he didn't expect to meet his mate, much less work with them. You see our situation at work is rather precarious at the moment."

"What do you mean by that?" Dylan asked immediately.

"Well, technically, it's discouraged for members of the same unit to get involved," Spencer explained, "and it doesn't help that Aaron, is technically, also my boss. Do you imagine I would be able to keep my job if we got involved in a relationship when I had just started? No, Aaron and I already talked about this and we agreed that we wouldn't start to display our feelings, except in private, until we had known each other for at least a year to two. Werewolves, aren't really the only ones that fall in love at first sight, as it happens very rarely to humans as well. Aaron and I don't want to create resentment among the team, or make them suspicious, as they're all highly intelligent people. Morgan for example would probably think that Aaron forced me into a relationship as he's the very suspicious type and I'm not looking forward to trying to explain to him when the time comes that our relationship is consensual. I believe he's already started to look at me as a little brother since he's the only boy in his family as he's certainly been very protective of me in the short time I've known him. I believe he thinks I'm totally innocent, at least when it comes to having sex and that he would've been right, at least if I hadn't met Aaron that is. I did meet him the same day I met Aaron and mated as Aaron calls it just hours later, so for a few hours after I knew him I was actually totally innocent, as he believes me to be. I believe that Garcia our technical analyst would be happy for us as she's a very romantic and upbeat type person and JJ would as well."

"What about Gideon?" asked Trevyn.

"Aaron believes that Gideon will never accept it as he's very old fashioned in some ways and he's never made a secret of the fact that he is disgusted by same-sex relationships," Spencer supplied.

"Oh, I can imagine the confrontation that will come when he finds out," Dylan said. "If he is as against same-sex relationships as you say..."

"What Aaron says," Spencer corrected, "but I trust his judgment, because he's known Jason Gideon far longer than any of us have."

"Alright then, according to what Aaron has said," Dylan corrected without missing a beat, "There is bound to be a confrontation of some sort a little bit farther down the line."

"Believe me, I know it, but in my admittedly short acquaintance I have come to the conclusion that while I can live without Gideon in my life, even if it will hurt me to lose him, but I cannot live without Aaron. If either one of you ever finds your mate whether that be male or female you will immediately know what I mean, trust me on that."

"That would be nice," Trevyn said wistfully. "It isn't too likely though as the odds are against it and I know you were just very lucky."

"Yeah, the likelihood of another one of us finding our mate, well they are astronomical," Dylan agreed. "If he or she exists the only way we'd ever find them is totally by accident just like you did."

"Whether or not you find your mate it doesn't mean that you shouldn't allow yourself to fall in love and get married," Spencer told his brothers. "Our kind does it all the time according to Aaron, I mean just look at our father."

"If I did that I would never abandon my wife or my pups the way he did," Dylan growled. "I'm not saying that any woman I chose to marry, that it wouldn't end up divorced eventually, but I'd try to prevent that from happening."

"So have you two joined the local packs where you two have chosen to live?" asked Spencer with a raised eyebrow. "We've always known that what the Alpha of the Las Vegas pack did to us wasn't right, as we knew enough about pack life by that time to know it was wrong, even if we had no say in the decision. I admit that we didn't know as much as we should have since we were only seven at the time, but most adults don't pay attention to children so long as they are quiet and we learned that from experience, didn't we?"

"Yeah, I remember those days before we were thrown out of the pack," Trevyn said with a nostalgic gleam in his eyes. "My memories are kind of dim since we were only seven, but I do remember quite a bit, but to answer your question yes, I have and the Alpha accepted me and I have begun making friends, although like you, Spence I'm being cautious, making sure that they really want to be my friend and aren't using me."

"Yeah, I remember just staying silent at the back of a crowd of werewolves and being able to pick up a lot different people's conversations," Dylan agreed. "We learned a lot, even if it was just bits and pieces because just as you said nobody pays attention to children so long as they are quiet and well-behaved and to answer your question Spencer like Trevyn yes, I've joined the local pack and often run with them on the full moon and have for the last year and a half or so."

"Good," Spencer approved, glad to know that his brother's experience with their own pack hadn't scarred them to where they avoided all werewolves, although they would have every right to be scared of encountering any of their kind considering how they had all been made outcasts at such a young age.

"I well remember how a lot of the pack buzzed angrily at the Alpha's pronouncement, but they weren't about to challenge him," Trevyn continued remembering. "Most of the them weren't fighters just ordinary people, even if they had the distinction of also being werewolves. Sure they would fight in order to protect their family, but for three pups that were not even related to them? No way. Despite their feelings the fact that they knew what the Alpha was doing was wrong they weren't willing to challenge him and from the perspective of years I can't really blame them. I bet you the pack in our old hometown would be astonished to know that we'd survived though."

"Almost certainly," Spencer agreed. "If Aaron has his way they will learn soon enough that we did survive."

"Would your mate really kill the Alpha of the pack?" asked Dylan tentatively.

"If it is still the same one that threw out 3 7 year olds for no reason then yes, he would. Aaron truly believes in justice and what Mack did was against werewolf laws. In most packs pups no matter their origins are revered, treasured and cared for. Children are apparently important to our species and taken care of by the entire pack or at least that's how it's supposed to work and does in most packs. Apparently, bad Alphas have been in charge of other packs before, although it hasn't happened very often as they are usually disposed in a very short amount of time."

"Would he really risk it being tracked back to him?" Trevyn asked.

"I wouldn't worry about that as Aaron told me exactly what they do with the body of a dead werewolf and let's just say that there isn't much chance of it ever being identified. The human part of me doesn't exactly approve, but the wolf in me definitely does. Wolves can be extremely violent and they don't take betrayal well, because they are supposed to be loyal to the pack and what Mack did broke that statute. Apparently, werewolf laws are extremely strict, especially when it comes to their pups and the only punishment is apparently death, well either that or being cast out of the pack like we were. It is the Alpha's responsibility to contact every pack and spread the word so that particular werewolf would not be welcome among any of our kind, which would also lead to their death eventually. Usually anyway. Some werewolves live a long time after they've been thrown out of their hometown pack and are not accepted in others no matter where they travel, since word would eventually spread. This punishment is never given without a reason and depending on circumstances..."

"But since our kind cannot be revealed to the human race, our laws are necessarily very strict," Dylan finished. "I can understand the werewolves point of view, I don't necessarily approve, but I can understand it."

"I don't necessarily approve either, but then if our father had taught us what we were supposed to know it probably wouldn't bother us so much," Spencer said shaking his head, "and we would likely just accept that it was part and parcel of being werewolves. Aaron is going to start training me in what I was supposed learn as a pup, tracking and hunting in the forest for example, also how to move silently and things like that. Aaron says that werewolf pups start out really young learning that kind of thing and that their natural instincts are gently reinforced as they grow. By the time they go away to college or at least are out on their own, well, let's just say they are at peace with both the wolf and the human part of themselves. However, because of that early childhood training most werewolves don't have trouble with either part of them and just accept certain things that a regular human would have trouble with, unless they were the vengeful sort."

"Blending both wolf and human, that's the way it should be," Trevyn said approvingly.

Dylan looked at Trevyn and he said, "Not all wolf traits are bad ones, for they are usually loyal to their pack and if they want to fight the Alpha of the pack they do it openly and not in an underhanded way. Of course, that's true wolves and while werewolves share many of the same traits, we are also human and capable of treachery and betrayal."

Dylan snorted at that.

"What does your Aaron going to do about our father who is just as culpable?" asked Dylan.

"It depends on the situation, as I told you earlier," Spencer said. "It's possible that Mack ordered him to leave us in the lurch like he did and if that's the case, then our father wouldn't have been able to resist his commands and he's not culpable at all. Aaron thinks that it's a very unlikely scenario, but admits that it's possible. If that's the case, Aaron won't do anything to him, because it wouldn't have been his fault since the Alpha's command is to be obeyed, no matter how bad an Alpha is. You know we overheard our father talking to mom when we were young and he told her that he was only a weak Beta not even a strong one, so there was no way that he could have resisted the leader of the pack command. However, Aaron believes that the most likely scenario was that our father abandoned us on his own free will and if that's what happened then Aaron will indeed give him what he deserves."

"You know, I can't say I'm sorry if our father is killed by your mate," Dylan said. "I know you're supposed to love your parents and I do miss mom a lot, even if she was off in her own little world most of the time and I know we share half his genes, but from what I can remember of him which are foggy at best he was never much of a father."

"No, he really wasn't," Spencer said remembering back when he was five or six quite clearly, thanks to his eidetic memory. "I'm not sure what his problem was, but he certainly didn't spend much time with his wife or his sons and from the perspective of years I wouldn't be surprised to find that he had a woman or two on the side."

Both Trevyn and Dylan winced at that, but nodded knowing it was very possible. They were no longer young children whom such information needed to be kept from them for their own good and they had definitely lost their innocence when they had been made outcasts for no reason.

"So have you and Aaron already moved in together?" asked Trevyn with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, that's why there's no food here and why the place is so bare as I'm essentially living over at his house. I'm only maintaining this place for appearances sake. Once we tell the team about our relationship in a year or two, I should be able to let it go."

"Well, it's a good thing because we couldn't discuss what we just talked about in public venue," Dylan said. "None of us might know as much about our species as we would like, but even somebody as young as we were know better than to go blurting out what we were as that just would have caused trouble we didn't need."

"Very true," Trevyn agreed, "though it likely would have been a different story if we had been normal seven year olds, instead of so intelligent. It not like our father ever conveyed the need for secrecy."

"There's a lot of things he didn't convey," Spencer snorted sounding unusually cynical. "He was hardly ever around, so I don't know how he could convey anything."

"Well, I suppose it's just as well that we were so intelligent then," Dylan said. "You know I would love to see our father's not to mention the pack's reaction that we survived with no help and no support."

"We had support," Trevyn disagreed, "we had each other."

"Alright, no adult support," Dylan corrected with a smile and his brother's direction.

"That's better and definitely more accurate," Trevyn said with a smile of his own.

"You and your need for accuracy," Dylan snorted.

"I happen to agree with Trevyn that accuracy is everything and in my job it pays to be as accurate as possible as that is what helps us catch our unsub," Spencer said.

Dylan rolled his eyes, but also smiled for it felt really good to just sit somewhere and talk with his brothers, which they hadn't had a chance to do in awhile, not since they had graduated college actually as they had been getting started in their careers for the last several years and hadn't had the money to travel much. The three of them hadn't had money for pleasure and barely for necessaries at times and had often gone hungry, but they had made it despite the hard times. Besides, they hadn't been about to ask for help as they would have had to explain their situation and since they had been underage at the time, well... not a good idea. Now that all three of them had careers of their own and they finally made some good money they would be visiting each other more often. It was nice to no longer have to worry about where their next meal was coming from.

"Why don't you let me call Aaron and I'll take you out to dinner," Spencer suggested. "You can ask him 20 questions while we are eating.

"Now would we really do that?" Dylan denied.

"Yes, you would," Spencer answered with a smile of his own. "I plan on doing the same you know if you ever decide to propose to another woman or even another man."

"As far as I know I like only woman," Trevyn said and Dylan nodded in agreement.

"I wasn't really interested in either sex, since I never had time to even think about it," Spencer admitted. "Who knows if I ever would've taken an interest in either sex at some point. I'm actually surprised any of us knows our sexual orientation considering our upbringing. Do you know that most pups are actually taught that it's okay like either sex since their mate can be either one?"

"Really?" asked Dylan in surprise.

"Really," Spencer said with a smile. "Of course, not all werewolves families teach this and it leads to some being very confused about their sexual orientation. Some werewolves apparently disbelieve in teaching this particular thing to their children just like humans do, except in a werewolf's case, that's kind of a bad idea since they do have Lifemates, while humans do not. Now a werewolf might never discover their Lifemate, but how do you know?"

"Which is why it's a good idea to teach our kind that it's okay to like both sexes," Trevyn said logically Spencer nodded.

"Many don't though," Spencer said. "There is still a lot of prejudice, even in the werewolf community where such thing as having a soulmate is quite common."

"I'm surprised you accepted it so easily," Dylan mentioned

"Aaron was nice enough to explain, and I had to agree once he did. He told me that if I had been raised in a pack like I should have been, we would've headed straight upstairs and that he wouldn't have bothered with an explanation because one wouldn't have been needed," Spencer said blushing a little. "However, he was nice enough to explain things to me as he immediately realized that I had no idea what was going on."

"Good, I'm going to enjoy getting to know your Aaron," Dylan said.

"You'll like him," Spencer promised, "but now I had better call him as we've been talking for hours and even if he knows where I am I don't want him to worry about me. I'm afraid he's a bit of a worrier at least where I am concerned and I'm sure he's sitting by the phone trying to pretend he's not concerned."

"That is so sweet," Trevyn said looking wistful.

"And romantic," Dylan added with a grin.

"Hey our bond and relationship is still new guys, and I promise I'll worry about him just as much as he does me when situation calls for it. For one of us to die now, well the other werewolf in question very rarely survives for long when that happens, even when it's old age and both of us are in a very dangerous profession."

"A point," Trevyn admitted somberly.

Spencer took out his phone and pushed speed dial as Aaron was already programed in and then headed to the bedroom and shut the door, not that his brothers wouldn't hear him talking with their excellent wolf hearing, but at least you gave him the illusion of privacy.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

"It's nice to meet you," Hotch told Spencer's two brothers politely shaking their hands after Spencer had introduced all of them.

"It's definitely nice to meet you after all our brother's told us about you," Trevyn said with genuine warmth returning the handshake.

The two brothers had watched as Hotch and Spencer greeted each other with a hug and kiss not caring that there were other people present. Both brothers were grateful that Hotch and Spencer kept it to just friendly greeting, a mere peck on the lips instead of a major smooching session, since it was rather odd to see their brother kissing anyone, much less another man. However, it was clear from both Hotch's and Spencer's actions that the two of them were indeed in a relationship and very close despite the fact they only known each other about a week. It was probably the Lifemate bond that Spencer had told the two of them about at least partly anyway. Trevyn and Dylan knew then that Spencer's new relationship, no matter how fast it had happened had not been forced, as there was no way their older brother would be so relaxed in Aaron's presence if it had been and so both brothers relaxed.

"I was so glad when I finally heard from you as I was really starting to worry," Hotch told his mate who nodded.

"I figured as much," Spencer said with a slight smile. "Sorry for worrying you we just got to chatting and lost track of time. Really, we haven't seen each other in several years, although we've kept in contact through phone calls and emails. It wasn't really until recently that we had the money to travel."

Hotch tried not to growl at that at least not with company present, although it still made him furious that three pups had been thrown out of the pack for no reason.

"Why don't we order dinner and we can discuss it over a nice meal," Hotch suggested calmly.

"Sounds good," Trevyn said, cordially

"This way we can get to know each other a little," Dylan added, "especially since you were nice enough to reserve this private room."

"I knew we would probably be discussing things that we didn't want other people to overhear," Hotch said with a shrug brushing off Dylan's comment causally, "so this was the best solution."

The four of them ordered dinner and Hotch studied his mate's two brothers. Both had Spencer's brown hair the exact same shade, which wasn't surprising, because Hotch now knew the triplets mother had been blonde. That color along with the red were recessive colors and therefore, needed a gene from both parents in order to turn out that way, while his and Spencer's were dominate colors and needed only one gene from one parent. Other than the hair color and the golden brown eyes though they didn't really look much alike as Trevyn had straight hair, while Spencer and Dylan was curly.

Also his mate was tall and slim and it was clear he had more a runner's type body, rather then a wrestler's or football player's like him. Trevyn was much bulkier although still smaller than he was, but still he had broader shoulders, bigger hands and chest and hips. From what Hotch knew Trevyn definitely took after their father William Reid, while Spencer took after his mother in his slimness, though his tallness likely came from his father, since men tended to be taller than women on average. Dylan, on the other hand, was a combination of both his brothers, as he was as tall as Spencer while Trevyn was the shortest, but he also had the same broad shoulders just like Trevyn did.

All three of them shared general facial features, nose, shape of the eyes, mouth, chins, so that it was clear they were related, possibly siblings, but not that they were triplets. Well, Hotch supposed that it was no different than him and Sean who had been born at the same time since his brother had gotten the sandy blonde hair of their mother, while he had gotten his father's black and the same was true of his three sisters and other brother, who had also gotten his father's black hair, although he was the oldest of sextuplets, just as Spencer was the oldest of triplets.

Both Dylan and Trevyn knew that by the way, he talked and comported himself that Aaron Hotchner was an Alpha, because it was clear that he was used to being in command as he just seemed to exude authority.

Of course, they had already known this from their brother, however, the way he talked and the way he had greeted Spencer also told them that he wasn't one to bully to get his way like Mack the Alpha of the Las Vegas pack was. It was clear Aaron Hotchner adored their brother, as Spencer was very comfortable with him and they were also holding hands under the table, which wasn't obvious unless you were paying attention and that made him a good guy in both their books. The two of them were also sitting so close together that if there was an inch between them they would be surprised and in fact Spencer was nearly in his mate's lap and would be they were sure if the two of them had been alone.

"So why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself," Trevyn suggested.

"Like what?" asked Hotch with a raised eyebrow in question.

"Well, anything you want to talk about, as Dylan and I definitely don't want to dig into your private life, as we're not the nosy types or anything, but we do have to make sure that you are treating our brother right and don't mean him any harm."

Spencer blushed at this even though he had expected it.

"Well, Spencer did warn me that you'd probably want to interrogate me," Hotch said his lips twitching. Normally, he would've taken offense at such a personal question, but he didn't in this case, because he knew that Spencer's brothers truly did have their sibling's best intentions in mind and weren't trying to be nosy.

"Well, there isn't much to tell really," Hotch began. "I have quite a few siblings, and the youngest are only two years older than Spencer. I grew up as part of the pack in Chicago and my father in particular was quite strict."

The way Hotch had said the word strict let Dylan and Trevyn know that he had likely been abusive or at least neglectful and if that was the case, they could definitely sympathize.

Eventually Hotch reached the end of his abbreviated childhood just as their dinners were delivered.

"I'm sure you want to know how I feel about your brother," Hotch said with a little smile on his face as Dylan and Trevyn had the grace to blush. "Believe me, I understand that the three of you are very protective of each other and I can certainly understand why considering the abbreviated version Spencer gave me of your childhood. Also, believe me, when I say that Mack Burke and your father will get what they deserve when the time is right. I'm sure, Spencer told you, that what the two of them did, the Alpha in particular went against every law that packs around the world have and since the Alpha broke pack law than he deserves pack justice and if that has to be delivered by me then so be it."

"It's possible that the Alpha is no longer the same man," Dylan suggested and Hotch nodded.

"Yes, that is very possible," Hotch admitted, "and I don't plan on delivering retribution if Burke has been deposed. Your father, on the other hand, if he still alive, will at least receive a beating from me, even if I won't necessarily kill him like he deserves for leaving his family with no support. He left you with no money, no way to support yourselves and you would have lost the house if the bills weren't automatically paid out of your mother's account. If all three of you weren't so intelligent and clever then you would have been lost and probably dead."

"Don't think we aren't aware of how lucky we were," Trevyn said.

"And don't think we don't know how the odds were stacked against us from the start and yet we managed to beat them," Dylan said.

"And we are not unaware that most children would have just died or ended up in a foster home," Trevyn added.

"Which would have been bad in our case, considering that we are forced to change on the full moon," Dylan added.

Hotch listened to this and his lips twitched at the way that Trevyn and Dylan seemed to be on the same wavelength acting almost like twins.

"Stop with the twin speak you two," Spencer told his brothers his lips twitching. "You know how hard you two are to understand when you talk like that. It's like watching a tennis match, a very fast-paced one."

"Sorry," both Dylan and Trevyn said at the same time looking ashamed.

"The way I feel about your brother," Hotch began as if he had never been interrupted in the first place, "It's like…a place I didn't even know I was missing until after we had met has suddenly been filled, before I ever knew it needed to be. Sure, I'd had this feeling described by other couples in my pack that had found their mates, but hearing it described and it actually happening to you are two different things. I knew that once we had met that we could never be separated again. I love him, even as fast as it happened, I do. I could never leave him that would be like tearing out half my own soul if I was stupid enough to do that and I've never been a stupid man."

"Spencer said similar things," Dylan said, "so it seems like you two are on the same wavelength and so long as you keep that thought in mind that Alpha or not we'll rip you apart if you hurt him then we won't have any problems."

"Dylan," Spencer protested, nearly sputtering. "I am a grown man I can make my own decisions thank you very much, not to mention I'm your elder, even if it's only by five minutes and therefore, I don't need anyone coming to my defense."

"Calm down, Spencer," Hotch said calmly. "Your brothers are just concerned about you and I really did expect them to warn me not to hurt you, because I certainly intend to do that, if any of my sisters happen to find their mate or just want to get married. Besides, since I have no intention of doing any such thing, we should not have any problems getting along whenever they visit you or we visit them. The three of you are really, really close and I won't repeat the reasons for that, since you already know what they are, but because of the way you had to look after each other, so of course, they want to make sure that any serious relationship any of you get involved in is on the up and up. I'm sure you know the statistics of abusive relationships and they're are quite a few of them out there that fall into that category and your brothers are just being protective, since they do love you."

"Alright, you're right," Spencer admitted more calmly.

Dylan and Trevyn watched in amazement at how there brother immediately calmed down, at Aaron's calm tone and gentle hand on his arm. If Aaron Hotchner who was obviously a few years older could get their brother to calm down so quickly, well, that was practically a miracle, because although Spencer didn't lose his temper very often, it did happen occasionally and it took a lot to calm him down when it did.

"We expect to be invited to the wedding whenever that is," Dylan said and with that statement Spencer knew that his brothers accepted Aaron and him and that his mate had just become a member of the Reid family and so he internally relaxed.

"It will be at least a couple of years," Hotch told the pair and they nodded. "It's not that I wouldn't like to marry Spencer right away, but there are few complications before we can get that far."

"Yes, Spencer was telling us about how the team doesn't know yet and you don't want them to find out for at least a year or two," Trevyn said.

"They will find out eventually, but I would like it to be awhile before they do, because we need a chance to supposedly get to know each other and then fall love, even if the Lifemate bond let's a werewolf know when they have hit the jackpot, but since none of the team can find out about the fact that we are werewolves..." Hotch explained calmly.

"Yes, I know exactly what you're trying to say," Dylan said with a nod. "Being a werewolf and having only one Lifemate removes the uncertainty that you found the right person, but since the team aren't werewolves they can't find out about your relationship for awhile anyway."

"That's it exactly," Hotch agreed with a smile that went all the way to his eyes. "Also there is Erin Strauss to consider. She's my boss and she hates me and the feeling is mutual."

"I have to agree, I've only met her once, but I didn't like her," Spencer admitted, "and more to the point the wolf in me didn't like her. You know the wolf is much better at sensing a person's trustworthiness and Strauss came off as a power-hungry, mean-spirited woman and I'm sure she's against same-sex couples and when she finds out about Aaron and me I have a feeling she's not going to like it."

"She won't," Hotch commented sourly. "She can't do anything about it though, because relationships are allowed so long as it can be proved that they can work together without letting their personal feelings get in the way in the field and by the time she finds out, if she ever does the team can be witnesses for us. So long as we act professionally when we're working she won't dare try to either separate us or fire one of us, although the second is more likely. If she does try something I can always go to the director and he can overturn her decision and she won't be able to do anything about it."

"Well, I suppose that you would have suspected things were going to well if you didn't have some problems," Dylan commented to his brother who laughed immediately understanding what his brother meant.

Hotch wondered what Dylan had meant by that comment he would make sure to ask Spencer later, but now was not the time.

"You know it's too bad that we won't get any nieces and nephews in the next few years since you are both male," Trevyn said wistfully, as he had always loved children and longed to have some of his own someday.

"Well, as to that, I'm raising my 8 half siblings," Hotch said then going onto explain exactly what he had meant.

"You should come by and meet them," Spencer said. "They're a little shy around strangers, but so long as Aaron's there they should be okay."

"I really don't get to spend as much time with them, as I would like due to my job and now my new relationship with Spencer," Hotch said wistfully.

"We'll simply have to do things together as a family like a picnic in the park or something like that," Spencer commented.

"We'd love to meet them," Dylan said and Trevyn nodded.

"It's sad that their mother died and couldn't raise them," Trevyn added

Hotch didn't mention that it was a good thing she had considering his siblings upbringing, though he had to admit that his mother seemed to change in the intervening years after his father's death. She had seemed more relaxed at least and Hotch attributed that to his father's death, because he hadn't been any nicer to his wife then to his pups. The only thing that had made his childhood bearable was the fact that his father had worked so much of the time.

"Well, she had them late in her life as she was 50 when they were born," Hotch explained. "My father has been dead for years and I know my mother doesn't miss him, since their marriage was arranged. I wouldn't be surprised if she had lovers on the side even while he was still alive as I'm sure he did. In any case, since she was pregnant with so many it was very possible for her to die during the c-section and her being so old didn't help. Things do go wrong even if a c-section is perfectly common when you're having multiples, and while most women come out of it just fine, some do die, depending on any number of factors."

"The fact that his mother was older has a lot to do with it as well," Spencer added. "There is a reason that most women have their children while they are young and while it is getting more common for them to have children even up into their late 40s that doesn't mean that there aren't certain dangers associated with having a child and especially multiple children that late in their lives. If it had only been a single child or even twins she likely would have survived, but to have nine even if one of them didn't live more than a few minutes that late in her life, well, I'm not really surprised that she passed away. We should all just be grateful that all the babies were born by that time and that all of them, except one survived, even if their mother did not."

"Carrying that many pups would have put a great strain on the body," Trevyn realized and Spencer nodded.

"It's extremely rare for any women to get pregnant with 9 pups, even a werewolf who are known for having multiples. It has happened once or twice, but until recently the medical technology didn't exist for them to survive and live productive full lives and the mother usually died with them, although not always. I'm actually astonished that Aaron's mother managed to carry them as close to full term as she did and that only one of them died, even if werewolf pups tend to be hardier then human ones," Spencer said. "Aaron's mother would've been carrying something like at least a 200 extra pounds around by the time they were born and that isn't easy and puts a tremendous strain on any woman's body no matter their age."

"So how long are you in town for?" Hotch asked.

"We really need to get going as we were in town for several days while Spencer was gone with you and the others for work," Dylan said.

"We'll keep in contact though and maybe arrange another visit in a few months, but I agree that we've already been here almost week," Trevyn said.

"Besides, I'm sure with your relationship being so new that you don't need us sticking around and now that we know our brother is happy and have met you I think it's time that we head home," Dylan added.

Spencer blushed at what his brother had implied and glared at him and Dylan just grinned.

"I hate to see you go, since I haven't seen much of you in several years, but I certainly understand," Spencer said.

"We'll visit each other often," Trevyn promise his older brother who nodded. "New York isn't really too far away and is only a few hours by train and if I didn't have to have luggage I could just come by paw instead since it's cheaper."

If there was anything Trevyn hated it was the thought of wasting money, which was due to early childhood training.

"If you have a chance why don't you look up my brother Sean," Hotch suggested. "He also lives in New York and is working as a chef. I'll give you his phone number and call him so he knows about you."

"Thanks," Trevyn said gratefully. "I know I'm just getting started, in New York, but you can never have too many friends, especially other werewolves as they are someone you can share the full moon with if you want."

"Yes, werewolves are pack animals," Dylan agreed. "They are much happier with someone to share the full moon with rather then being by themselves."

"I certainly agree with that," Hotch said with a nod. "I plan to introduce Spencer to the pack in this area before the full moon next week and needless to say he's extremely nervous about it."

Dylan and Trevyn looked at their brother who indeed did look like a deer caught in the headlights of a car.

"I assured him that they're all very nice people," Hotch said, "but I can certainly understand his nervousness considering his upbringing or lack thereof."

"So how many werewolves live in this area?" asked Dylan.

"Around 250 or so, although they don't all show up for every full moon as the place where we gather together is in Washington and is a couple of hours drive away for most of us," Hotch said. "Of course, about a quarter of those will be children from just over 2 to 18."

Hotch didn't bother to mention the fact that there were several females that had been trying to get his attention ever since he had moved into this area years ago and while most of them had given up there were still a couple that were being extremely persistent. Hopefully, now that he and Spencer were together they would get the hint and leave him alone. He knew he was going to have to explain this to Spencer before they headed down there he wasn't looking forward to it because despite his bravo Spencer still didn't have any confidence that he wouldn't find some female or even another male more to his taste then he was, though the chances of that happening were absolutely nil. Once they had been together for a few years he knew that Spencer would realize that he wasn't going anywhere, but until then and until he learned to trust his instincts and what the wolf part of him was telling his human part he was just going to have to prove that he wasn't going anywhere again and again if necessary.

Hotch cursed William Reid and the Las Vegas pack Alpha Mack Burke in his head and swore that they would pay for what they had done to three pups, his mate in particular.

"Did you join the local pack when you went to college?" asked Hotch.

"Well, sure we did, but it took Spencer a long time to relax, whenever he was around other werewolves other than us," Trevyn said.

"Well, considering your upbringing or really lack thereof that's not really all that surprising," said Hotch, as he gave his mate's hand a gentle squeeze. "Also it doesn't help that Spencer's memory is eidetic and therefore, he would remember his father's and the Alpha of the Las Vegas pack betrayal much more clearly than you two probably do. Believe me, such bad memories have an effect on the psyche, especially when that person is a young pup or a normal human child, when they occur."

"In any case, we did leave some good friends and we keep in contact with them over email and phone calls."

"It's more the unknown and the situations that can pop-up that scare me," Spencer who had not spoken in sometime corrected. "After all, I believe it has been more than proven that a werewolf is just as capable of treachery and betrayal as a human is."

"Any sentient species is capable of betraying or hurting someone else whether intentionally or not," Hotch said and Spencer nodded.

"I'm not so innocent that I don't know that," Spencer said.

"No, you were never innocent none of you are at least not since you were seven years old anyway and the adults in your life betrayed you," Hotch said. "All except for your mother, but she was so lost in her own little world that she wasn't really aware of what was going on. It wasn't her fault of course, but you had no adult support, and you had to raise yourselves and resort to pickpocketing just to survive."

"Something we normally never would have done but we had to feed ourselves someway," said Trevyn, "even if we did catch rabbit and squirrels in our wolf forms sometimes in order to cook them up for food."

"That might've taken care of our meat requirements but we're still omnivores and require vegetables, milk and other things so that we had a balanced diet," Spencer said.

"I'm surprised Spencer told you about that, especially after know you for such a short amount of time," Dylan said. "Most people wouldn't want to contact the police and have us thrown in jail even if the stature of limitations has long since expired."

"I would never do that, because I understand why you had to do it," Hotch explained calmly. "If you weren't werewolves and had been left on your own or eventually ended up in foster homes, after being scooped up by social services it would've been different. However, in your case, I understand that there was no way you could've ended up in a foster home or likely several thanks to being werewolves, so you had to survive someway. I mean the adults in your life left you without resources and so I know you had very few options. You could've just chosen to give up and then committed suicide, which would've ended up on the news, but you didn't, since the death of a child much less three and ones that were siblings at that would have swept the country and would have caused many people to be calling for the person or persons responsible, blood. In my opinion you three chose the more difficult option and that was to survive by any means necessary, as killing yourselves would have been the really easy way out. Besides, it's not like I could throw werewolves in jail, considering we have to change on the full moon and I'm sure you can guess what a pack does in instances where one of our kind is wanted by the authorities."

"Hunts them down?" stated Dylan.

"And once you do kill them, so that they can't reveal werewolves to humans," Trevyn said.

"Precisely, which grates against the human part of me since it believes in justice, but I do understand," Hotch said. "Besides, the wolf in me definitely approves, since it doesn't take betrayal or treachery very well or the possibility of revealing our kind to humans, except those that marry into the pack, of course. The wolf and the human are so intertwined that I can't tell where one part begins or ends, but since this is just what it is like for all werewolves and even though it grates on my human instincts it really doesn't bother me that much. It's just part of life, for werewolves and that's just that way it has always been."

"You just accept it so much easier than we do because of that early childhood training," Spencer said, as he leaned over to kiss Hotch on the cheek. "If we had been trained in such things, when we were young I'm sure we would to and wouldn't think anything of it when or if it happened."

"Which is just one more thing that your father and Mack Burke need to answer for," Hotch growled.

Spencer know that there was no way that his mate was going to let go of his need for vengeance, because even though they had only known each other for a week he knew that Aaron deeply believed that he and his brothers had been wronged and while he agreed in principle he didn't feel the need for vengeance like Aaron did. However, he had always been one to just to avoid confrontations if it all possible and he didn't feel like it was worth taking up an old grudge just to get revenge on his father and the Alpha of the Las Vegas pack. He knew that Aaron wouldn't call it revenge, but justice, but that was all a matter of perception.

Spencer well knew that if he had been raised in a proper pack like he and his brothers should've been he likely wouldn't have any trouble with delivering justice or at least in believing it was necessary. Werewolf laws were harsh, but then they had to be, so that they wouldn't be discovered by humans outside of those that married into a pack of course. Still, he wasn't sure he believed in this eye for an eye or tooth for a tooth mentality like in the bible, but he supposed he really didn't have any say in the matter, although he knew he could request his mate to leave his father and Mack Burke alone and he would likely to get his wish. He knew however, that Aaron would be extremely unhappy if he did and so he said nothing and he would say nothing when the time came to deal with the situation.

Spencer well remembered the outrage of the other Alpha, when he and his brothers had requested that they be permitted to run with the pack while they were going to college. When Travis had learned their story, he remembered being afraid of Travis's anger at first, but realizing quite quickly that the Alpha's anger wasn't directed at him or his brothers, but at Mack Burke who had thrown out 3 7 year olds for no reason really other than he didn't like their parentage, which was a ridiculous reason for making someone an outcast and also at their father.

Spencer had learned forgiveness right there when he realized that not all Alphas of werewolf packs were like the one in his and his brothers hometown and so he had taken a chance and all through their college years all three of them had gone to run with the pack every full moon. One of the others of the pack had offered to give them room and board until they graduated and although Spencer had been rather leery about accepting the offer and it had turned out to be the best thing for them.

Spencer now remembered old Gertie, whose full name was Gertrude and her husband of 40 years Leo with fondness. The couple had had a nice house and since all their pups were grown they'd had plenty of space to put up three 13 year old boys. Spencer had known that he, Trevyn and Dylan were too young to get an apartment, as not only did they not have the money for that what responsible adult would rent an apartment three 13 year olds? His original plan had been that since two of them would be sharing a dorm anyway that the third would just join them on the nights of the full moon, as they couldn't risk being out past curfew for they risked being expelled if they were caught.

They might never have been caught, but then how did they know? Thanks to old Gertie and her husband's generosity they had been able to earn money by tutoring once they had settled in and they hadn't had to waste any of their money renting their own apartment for the last two years. The couple had even given them some startup money, so that they would have food and traveling money until they could start their new jobs, which Spencer had promised to pay them back for. However, Gertie and Leo hadn't wanted to be paid back saying that they thought of the Reids like sons and that they were always welcome to visit whenever they were in the area. Spencer and his two brothers of course, stayed in contact with him over email and the occasional phone call just to see how the other was doing, as all three of them really had grown fond of the 60+ couple. Gertie's and Leo's genuine compassion and kindness had strengthened Spencer's belief in the fact that not all werewolves or humans were bad or at least uncaring and that some were genuinely nice and wanted nothing in return.

In fact, it was that couple that had given him and his brother their own laptops so they could do their homework and all three of them had been so grateful for the older couples generosity. Spencer still had that laptop, even though it was now ancient and very slow, but he just couldn't bear to buy new one, even though he now had the money because that older couple's generosity had meant so much to him and this was a physical representation of that. He really wasn't sure what would've happened to him or his brothers if they had been forced to live in the dorms, although he could guess that there probably would've been some bullying involved since he and his brothers were so much younger then the general age of a college student, but thanks to that older couple the bullying had been kept to minimum, since they'd only there for their classes and not actually living in the dorms.

The three of them had been resented sure for their obvious young age, but also their brilliance. Spencer knew that even if they had been the proper age of other college students they still likely would've been resented for their obvious intelligence.

The four continued to chat for a few minutes, but eventually the wonderful company broke up, because unfortunately, both Hotch and Spencer had to work in the morning and so they needed to get going on home.

"It has been wonderful meeting you," Hotch said, "I hope we see both of you again soon. You are welcome to contact me if you ever need anything."

"Thanks," Trevyn said with a smile shaking Hotch's hand politely, although he did genuinely like the older man and felt he was a good choice for his brother as there was no way that his brother would ever get involved with somebody who was his own age because they would likely be too immature. Aaron Hotchner, on the other hand, was at least a decade older, then his brother, but who was just as intelligent, even if it wasn't about the same things and that's why he thought that Aaron and his brother were such a good match romantically, even if Aaron was a little bit older than he would have a liked for his brother to be involved with.

However, Trevyn knew he didn't really have a right to say anything about the age gap, simply because his older brother was of age just like all of them were and had a right to make his own decisions and technically, Spencer was the oldest.

Besides, he liked Aaron and thought that he was perfect for his brother and made him happy and that was all that mattered, so him being older was irrelevant. Besides, it wasn't really all that unusual nowadays for someone older to marry someone younger or at least be in a relationship and he wasn't just talking about a 4 or 5 year age difference, but 10 or more.

"We've enjoyed dinner and getting to know you and I hope we can continue what was started here tonight," Dylan said.

"I would like that," Hotch said with a smile, "If Spencer and I didn't have to work tomorrow then we could have a nightcap, but we do, so we need to go home and get some sleep as we don't want to be tired in case we have to fly out as we need to be sharp."

"Have you actually gotten Spence to start drinking, because last we knew he still hadn't tried alcohol?" Trevyn asked glancing at his brother.

"Must I remind you that we were still to young to drink when we graduated?" Spencer said rolling his eyes. "I did enter the FBI academy shortly after that and you might be able to drink after hours, but I didn't join the other cadets, as I was resented enough, because of my young age and my intelligence. I wasn't about to put myself in a situation where some of the cadets could put something in my drink and accuse me of taking drugs, or get me alone and beat me up. I tried not to make waves, but that didn't mean I didn't. I guarantee you I made no friends while I was going through training."

"You know I've been wondering how you got through the training without any of them finding out that you're a werewolf, since we need change on the full moon," Dylan asked.

"Well, don't you remember what Gertie told us?" asked Spencer.

"She told us a lot of things," Trevyn said, "and we certainly know more about our species thanks to her and her husband."

Hotch wondered who this Gertie and her husband were, but now was not the time, so he would be sure to ask Spencer as soon as they got home. From the conversation they were obviously werewolves and ones close to where the triplets had gone to college.

"She told us that you didn't necessarily have to change into a werewolf on the full moon so long as you were in a very dark room with no moonlight able to enter it," Spencer reminded his brothers.

"Oh, yeah, I had forgotten that," Dylan admitted. "So you're saying that the dormitory had no windows."

"Not a one," Spencer admitted, "and while some of the cadets grumbled about that it didn't bother me and in fact I was very happy about it because I would've had to leave the Academy if there had been, which would've upset not only me, but Jason Gideon my mentor who as you know, urged me to join the bureau. Urged all three of us really, even if I was the only one that decided it was career for me. I admit that most of the dorms do have windows, but the one I was in which only had two beds didn't. Luckily, I was in a room by myself, because there weren't enough cadets to fill out every single dormitory. I was lucky and I know it and in more than one way, because I know some of the cadets resented my presence and would have likely played many nasty and underhanded practical jokes on me and then possibly gotten away with it to in order to get me to quit. I had to keep my guard up constantly doing that five months of training."

"If they had there's no way they would've gotten away with it," Hotch said. "Believe me, they wouldn't have, because the instructors would've found out and those cadets would've been expelled, possibly even brought up on criminal charges depending of course, on the severity of the offense. By the way, I see you discovered the one way that we don't have to change on the full moon and it's a good thing, because that's also how I got through the Academy, or I never would have made it. Actually, the way I did it was I chose a dark corner of the library and pretended I was studying and I just fell asleep there. While you can go off campus after the first three weeks, you have to be back by midnight, so it's not like I could change someplace else and just come back in the morning. Unfortunately, I wasn't as lucky as you were to get a dorm without windows and even if you could close the blinds the moonlight still filtered through."

"I'm surprised someone didn't discover your little hideaway and send you off to bed," Dylan said with a grin.

"I think they took pity on me and also appreciated my dedication to my studies," Hotch said with a shrug. "Besides, I only did it just often enough to establish the fact that I did do it, like when I had a test or something and therefore, none of the staff thought anything of it when I did it on the full moon. I woke up with a crick in my neck and my back hurting the next morning, but at least I hadn't changed."

"Wow! I wish I'd thought of that," Spencer said enviously.

The four continued to talk, but finally they paid the bill and went out to their two separate cars after promising to keep in touch.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	6. Chapter 6

Part 6

"So who is this Gertie and her husband you mentioned?" asked Hotch. "I figured out that they're werewolves and they helped you and your brothers out in some way, but other than that..."

"Gertie or Gertrude, how she hated that name and her husband Leo were lifesavers," said Spencer remembering them fondly. "Dylan suggested that we contact the local pack as soon as we arrived at MIT. It was better he said to approach them then it was for them to find out about us and he was right of course. It was better to contact the local pack then it would have been for them to just discover us as it wasn't like we were just passing through as we were going to be there for years getting our education.

"I won't say I wasn't nervous when we met the Alpha of the pack, whose name is Travis by the way, but unlike Mack, Travis welcomed us and when he heard our story he was extremely enraged. I and my brothers had thought that we'd be staying in the dorm and that one of us would be by ourselves or with a roommate who wasn't a werewolf on the full moon, and so we decided that when it came upon us that we'd be staying together and not leaving our dorm room making sure we locked it, of course.

"It would've been nice if we didn't have to change every full moon, but we didn't know a single place where moonlight wouldn't penetrate that we could do that, and we also didn't know about that particular trick back then. Well, once Travis had welcomed us, but saw how young we were, Gertie and Leo stepped forward and offered us room and board at their house.

"The two of them were an older couple at least in their 50s when we first met them and all their children were grown and out on their own. You can imagine I was kind of leery about taking them up on it considering that they might not be what they seemed to be, but we decided to give it a try on a trial basis at Travis's urging as he definitely approved and it was the best decision that the three of us ever made.

"Gertie and Leo were two of the most compassionate and kind people werewolf or human that the three of us had ever met at that time and started treating us as their own sons from the first. It took all three of us awhile to really trust them, me in particular, but because of their generosity we didn't have to stay in the dorm, which was a good thing as I have a pretty good idea of what would've happened if we'd had no other choice."

Likely bullying as young people and some older ones as well didn't like to be shown up by several someones that they would consider a bunch of snotnosed kids who did not belong there no matter how intelligent they were, Hotch thought although he didn't say it out loud as he listened to his mate's story.

"Leo bought us bikes and taught us to ride so that we could peddle them to classes, since we were too young to drive and even if we hadn't been we couldn't've afforded a car or the gas that goes in it. We protested that it was too much but Leo and Gertie insisted and in the face of their stubbornness what choice did we have, but to give in?

"The two of them did everything that good parents are supposed to do for their children and made sure we knew the way to the college, which was only a couple miles from where they lived and they didn't want us to ride the subway or a bus as both of those could be dangerous, especially at night. Of course, riding bikes could also be dangerous, but still it seemed like the safest option and the cheaper one to, since it didn't require fuel, or money to pay for the bus or the subway. All of us had agreed to a kind of trial basis to stay with them for two months and if things worked out we would stay there until we graduated.

"As you can tell we accepted as things more then worked out. It was them that convinced me that not all werewolves or humans were bad, or at least uncaring, as they always made sure that we got home safely, and even bought us laptops so we could do our homework quickly and effectively. When we graduated they were as proud as if they were our parents at our accomplishments and by that point we were starting to think of them as honorary grandparents. When it was time for us to be out on our own after we had gotten our diplomas they gave us seed money even though we protested, because they had done so much for us already.

"They gave us enough to be able to buy food and to travel to our destination as we already had jobs or in my case, a place at the Academy. I told both of them that I would pay them back, even if it was a little bit at a time and they told me not to worry about it that they were glad to do it. I still plan on paying them back for all they did for me and my brothers, because without them who knows what would have happened us?"

Hotch turned his mate's story over and over in his head and he knew that he would have to find someway to thank the older couple for all they had done for his mate and Travis the Alpha of the pack in Massachusetts too. Well, technically, Travis had just been doing his duty by them, which was more than Burke had ever done, but still he owed Gertie and Leo a lot and he would find some way to a repay them for their kindness.

"Well, I'm glad the pack in Massachusetts were so kind to you, which is how all Alpha's are supposed to be no matter where they are located," Hotch said. "Because you and your brothers approached the pack in that area and didn't leave it to them to come across the three of you accidentally and were polite, Travis went out of his way to help, which is the way it should be. If you hadn't introduced yourselves and had just come onto another pack's territory without letting them know you were there than they would have had a right to rip you apart legally or at least run you out of their territory, which probably would have been the case, since you were so young."

"I know that now, but I didn't back then," Spencer admitted. "It was Dylan that had read up on regular wolves at that time and since our two species are similar in many ways we figured we'd better act accordingly. I know I was the oldest and the one that usually led the three of us, but I always listened to my brothers opinions. One of the things that made me and my brothers accept Gertie and Leo's offer was that they didn't smell bad, you know like they had bad intentions."

"Yes, a werewolf nose is very sensitive and if someone had bad intentions, well, it seems to exude from their very skin," Hotch admitted. "People sweat when they are very nervous for whatever reason and they're also other bodily reactions, like a speeded up heartbeat that are easier to detect with a wolf's keen hearing and as had already been stated their sense of smell. Of course, sometimes people sweat for an honest reason, so it's not a perfect way to tell if somebody has ill intentions, but still a good one so long as you don't depend on only that."

"Still, the wolf in me seemed to like them and that was a good indication that their offer was genuine and Dylan and Trev agreed, so we accepted. The wolf in me is certainly a much better judge of character than the human part of me despite my good observational skills that helps me tell a person's intentions, so I've learned to trust it."

"Yes, that part of you is much better at detecting if someone is telling the truth and being honest," Hotch agreed. "I certainly use it a lot in my work and people have always been amazed that I'm so good at detecting when somebody is lying or at least not being completely truthful, even when their body language doesn't give them away."

"It's one of the reasons that I decided to trust you so easily, mate bond or not," Spencer told him and Hotch who nodded, for he had suspected as much.

"As we get to know each other you'll know without having to use your instincts that I am completely trustworthy because to betray you would be to betray myself and trust me, neither one of us would live through the experience of us separating on a permanent basis," Hotch explained.

"I know," Spencer admitted softly. "I instinctively trusted you beyond any reasonable measure from the moment we met and I know in my heart that to leave you would be like ripping out half my own soul and I told my two brothers as much to."

"Good, I'm glad you're listening to the wolf in you, as in this case, it knows better than the human part of you. It is your wolf after all who is the mate of mine and the humans in us are just along for the ride," Hotch said. "I'm glad you know in the wolfish part of you that I will never betray or leave you, so now we just have to work on convincing your human half of that, just because you've always gone by that part of you instead of your wolf instincts, although I can understand why you did."

"Well, before now the wolf part of me was just an inconvenience, although I have to admit it was better at sensing peoples intentions and I did use it for that. I doubt very much that the three of us ever would have approached the Alpha of the pack or agreed to living with Gertie and Leo was probably the best thing for us, if the wolves in all of us hadn't sensed that they had no ill intentions. Human instincts and observational skills after all can be fooled, no matter how good or finely tuned they both are."

"The wolf can be fooled too, although it's a lot harder," Hotch admitted. "Really all werewolves use both the wolf and their own observational skills and instinct to sense somebody's intentions, since really we are the perfect blend of wolf and human and as I told your brothers the two are so intertwined that it's impossible to separate the two. The wolf is a part of me, even in my human form, although you'll learn that I transform often and not just on the full moon. I hope you'll join me when I do transform and learn to love that part of you just like most werewolves do that were raised in a pack."

"I always considered that part of me an inconvenience as I said a few minutes ago, but now that I have someone to share it with, well, besides, my brothers..." Spencer paused as if thinking deeply and then added, "Perhaps, I will learn to love my wolf form just as much as you do."

"I hope you do and I'll be happy to show you the good side of being what we are whenever we have free time, although I realize that we don't get as much of that as we might like," Hotch said.

"Well, I do know some good things," Spencer admitted thoughtfully. "I know unlike werewolves portrayed in books and movies, we're not uncontrollable beasts, even when we are forced to change on the full moon. I remember simply laying quietly on the couch or the bed of wherever I was and just kind of snoozing. Of course, when we were in Massachusetts going to college me and Dylan and Trev ran with the pack, every full moon, although there would've been no way we could do that if we had actually been in the dorms that were part of the college, since there is a curfew. We could have chosen to sneak out sometime, but the odds of us not getting caught, eventually... Really getting free room and board from Gertie and her husband was the best possible thing that could've happened to us."

"I agree," Hotch said. "You are lucky to find such a sympathetic Alpha, although most of them who run their own packs should feel that way, after you and your brothers told them your story, because most Alphas that run packs are good ones, but as you know from personal experience there is an occasional bad one. The pack I grew up in never would have thrown three pups out of it, and their behavior would have just been gently corrected if they had done something wrong. Also bullying is not allowed within the pack and just because say you're an Omega and the other pup is an Alpha does not mean that the Alpha is allowed to bully someone that they see as weaker then they are. Your pack from what you have told me seems poorly mismanaged. I'm actually surprised that Travis didn't teach you how to hunt, track, to move silently and other wolfish skills, since he allowed the three of you to run with the pack in Massachusetts on the full moon."

"I believe that he expected us to ask him, even if he just assumed at first that we did know these things, though I'm sure he guessed that we did not, after we'd been running with the pack a few times. I'm sure the three of us seemed like bulls in a China shop compared to the other wolves of the pack, but we were never picked on if that was the case."

"The Alpha probably told the other werewolves of the pack not to pick on you because you had never learned things that all pups are taught, due to a bad Alpha," Hotch suggested. "If I was an Alpha of my own pack, which I have no desire to be, that's what I would've done. Travis wouldn't have had to go into any details as most werewolves know precisely what can happen when a bad Alpha has control over a pack and so I'm sure they came up with multiple scenarios on their own, because we are taught as pups as it is part of our history."

"I've learned a few things over the years mostly thanks to Gertie and Leo about werewolves and how we came to be, but it's not like we had time for history lessons with our courseload and all the tutoring we did in order to have some money of our own as we couldn't just depend on the couple we were staying with. Even at 13 all three of us were pretty independent, but then we'd had to be. All three of us felt that Gertie and Leo were doing too much for us already and we didn't want them to give us even more money. I mean they'd already bought us bikes and taught us to ride, checked up on us, bought us cell phones and laptops, so they could keep in touch with us and we could call them if we were going to be extra late, because of a tutoring session or something else. They even gave us money for emergencies in case we were late so that we could take a cab, as riding a bike at say 10 o'clock at night was not safe. I am so grateful to them because without them..."

"Hey! Think of the positive instead of what could have happened," Hotch suggested, before Spencer could continue. "Think of the fact that because of your intelligence you got yourself into a very good situation. All three of you were more intelligent at seven or eight then most adults are at 30, even though I realize that you had to be. However, most children aren't as intelligent as you and definitely wouldn't have known what to do if the same situation with one of their parents leaving had occurred, especially if their other parent had some kind of disease that incapacitated them most of the time like your mother's did. In any case, I owe Gertie and Leo a lot and I'm going to find someway to repay them, for their kindness, compassion and generosity."

"You don't have to do that," Spencer protested.

"You are my mate and it is an Alpha's responsibility to take care of their weaker partner and that's not a snub against you at all, it's just the way it is in a werewolf pack. I won't deny that in most situations you are able to take care of yourself, but you don't have an Alpha's strength or their rather forceful personality and there's nothing wrong with that. Just think of how I bathed and fed you after we had mated and you'll get an idea of what I mean. The wolf in you made you not protest and say you could do it yourself because your instincts were telling you it was only right."

Spencer thought back to just a week ago and how he had been startled when the warm water had touched his skin and how he had been startled awake afraid until he had spotted the face of Aaron Hotchner hovering above him. He still couldn't explain, even to himself why he had immediately relaxed or why the protests that he had been about to utter about him being able to take care of himself had never left his lips. He remembered that the wolf in him had been extremely happy at the gentle touch and attention of his mate and how it had felt so right, so utterly perfect that the wolf in him was practically panting in happiness.

He remembered the wolf in him convincing him not to protest and that Aaron taking care of him like this was only natural and that this was what every Alpha mate did for their weaker and more submissive partner and his Alpha would be insulted if he did protest. Spencer remembered how Aaron had gently washed him from head to toe even washing his hair and after that was done how he had been tenderly carried and laid on one side of the bed, the side that had now become his. He remembered being patted dry by a soft towel and how Aaron had gently pulled the light sheet over him kissing him on the cheek before disappearing somewhere.

He remembered being woken up, he wasn't sure how long later and being gently encouraged to eat, although all he had wanted was to curl back up and go back to sleep because he had been so exhausted. He only vaguely remembered Aaron climbing into bed with him a few minutes after that as he had been sleeping rather deeply and had only woken up a little when he felt the other side of the bed compress, although he had immediately gone back to sleep.

He had woken up with Aaron curled against his back and his arm protectively slung over his side and he remembered never being so happy and contented in his life.

"So the reason you did that was because it's an Alpha's responsibility to take care of their weaker mate," Spencer summarized trying to figure out how he felt about that.

"Only when they're in need of it like when they're really exhausted," Hotch explained. "No matter how shaky an Alpha's legs are or how exhausted they feel it's up to them to prove that they are strong enough to take care of their spouse or partner, even when they feel like all they want to do is sleep for a week. I know how independent you are, and considering your upbringing I really can't blame you, but this is just something that only happens between mates, Lifemates, not just two werewolves who get married and have a few children. The urge to take care of your partner, only comes upon an Alpha when they have discovered the other half of their soul and it doesn't apply if they're married to a human or even another werewolf, if that werewolf is not the Alpha's Lifemate."

"So it's an instinct then," Spencer said, as that made sense once he had thought about it.

"It is. I enjoyed every moment of taking care of you and I always will," Hotch said, kissing his mate gently.

"Well, far be it for me to go against your instincts," Spencer finally said and Hotch relaxed knowing that was Spencer's way of accepting the situation which meant he wouldn't protest when he took care of him when he was truly exhausted or injured. "I just hope the rest of the team never finds out about it or I'll be teased forever, by Morgan in particular. I can already tell that Morgan is going to enjoy teasing me about just about everything, even if he doesn't mean it maliciously."

"It will be something private just between us," Hotch promised. "The rest of the team wouldn't understand anyway my urge to take care of you like that as they don't know about the werewolf thing and mustn't ever to find out, since it is against pack laws, unless of course, they marry into a werewolf family."

"You know as much as I hate to admit it I missed sleeping with you when we were on that case the other day. I don't know how I could get so used to sleeping with someone so fast, but if I hadn't been so exhausted at the end of the day I just know I would have tossed and turned and I actually did one night when I wasn't as tired as the rest of them."

"Yeah, I know, I didn't sleep well either," Hotch admitted, "as I missed cuddling up against you and also waking you up in the middle of the night to make love to you. The wolf in me craved your presence and it was very hard to calm down enough for me to be able to sleep."

Spencer blushed, as he remembered his and Aaron's mating very well, but now with his mate's words he knew it was going to be a regular occurrence for him to be woken up at least once in the middle of the night to make love. Spencer admitted if only to himself that he wouldn't mind that in the least and that he was looking forward to it

"I'm afraid though, it's just going to be that way until the rest of the team finds out about our relationship as me and Gideon have always shared a room usually one that has two double beds and believe me, when I say I'd much rather share a room with you, then with Gideon, even if the two of us sleep separately.

"So that means JJ as the only female that travel with us has a room to herself and so did Morgan or at least he did before I joined the team," Spencer said.

"In a year or two it will be different and we'll be sharing a room once the team learns about our relationship, but until then we'll just have to put up with the tossing and turning," said Hotch. "I don't like this situation either, but there's no changing it, so we'll just have to accept it until the time comes. The wolf in me doesn't like to be denied access to his mate, but I am well practiced in controlling that part of me, for if I wasn't I could never do what I do, because I would tear some of our unsubs to shreds, particularly pedophiles."

"Well, really a year or two isn't too bad, although I know it is still going to be hard," said Spencer. "I'm sure it will pass quickly. Gideon is not going to like it though, when he does find out if everything you've told me about him is accurate. Don't worry I believe it, as you know him much better than I do," Spencer added hastily.

"Don't worry I'm not insulted," Hotch said with a smile. "You're a lot like me and don't want to accept anybody else's impression of someone and want to come up with your own and there is nothing wrong with that, because the other person's impressions of someone might not be accurate as they are colored by a lot of things."

"Yes, a person's attitude and outlook on life, their emotions, whether they are good at reading people accurately..." Spencer said.

"And in order to do that you need to be calm and not emotional," Hotch added. "If you take an instant dislike to a someone, it doesn't necessarily mean that they aren't a good person, just that you don't like the person's attitude or are jealous of their popularity or for some other reason."

"Humans don't really need a reason to hate or dislike someone," Spencer said knowing this from experience. "Werewolves either for that matter."

"So the full moon is tomorrow night are you looking forward to it?" asked Hotch. "Well, if we don't catch a case tomorrow," Hotch amended.

"Well, kind of," Spencer said slowly. "I'm really nervous about meeting the Alpha of the local pack, even if you have assured me that Rolf will accept me. I suppose I will always be nervous about meeting new werewolves until I actually get to know them. It would be nice to have some werewolves, even as casual friends or even close ones, besides, my brothers, Gertie, Leo and now you. Still, I'm not holding my breath that any of them, besides, the Alpha are going to accept me."

"I have a lot of friends among the werewolves and while they might be surprised that my mate is male, they won't think anything of it really and once they get to know you they will love you just in a different way then I do."

"If you say so," Spencer said with doubt in his voice.

"You'll see," Hotch said knowing that there was no way he could convince his mate that the werewolves that gathered on the full moon to run together would accept him. Not all of them of course, but those within his close circle of acquaintances certainly would and also the Alpha and his mate and their word was law within the pack. Hotch couldn't really blame his mate for his doubt considering his childhood upbringing. If only…

Hotch cut that thought off, because he had been thinking similar things ever since he had met his mate and he was sure he would continue do so for quite awhile. However, the lack of his mate growing up within a pack due to the Alpha and also Reid's father just made him want to go to Las Vegas and tear the Alpha to shreds and William Reid as well.

"Spencer, there is something I need to tell you before we go for the full moon tomorrow," Hotch began having been trying to figure out a way to tell his mate about the unattached females that swarmed around him as soon as he went to one of these things. He didn't want to make Spencer believe that he would prefer one of those females to him, which was nowhere near the truth. Still, that was likely what Spencer would believe that at least until they got to know each other better. Finally Hotch decided there was no way to be gentle about it and being blunt was likely not the best way, but the only way.

"What's that?" Spencer asked curiously seeing that Hotch was nervous and in the short time he had known the man he knew that his mate normally didn't get nervous, so in other words, whatever Aaron had to say couldn't be good.

"I just wanted to warn you that when we go for the full moon tomorrow, that there will be some females that have been trying to get my attention for several years. I didn't want you to be caught by surprise and think that I prefer one of them over you, because that couldn't be any farther from the truth. A lot of them have gotten discouraged or have found mates or partners of their own and now leave me alone, but they're still two or three that are being very persistent no matter how often I turn them down."

"Does this happen to any of the other male werewolves?" asked Spencer carefully.

"Yes, it does, but eventually most of the males that the females follow around get tired of it and so go out of their way to avoid them or a eventually picks one of them in order to have a relationship with them for awhile anyway and in that way we're really no different from humans. I'm not really sure if the females that have been persistent in trying to get my attention ever since I moved into this area, will stop bothering me once I tell them that I'm officially taken or will keep it up."

"I thought you told me that nobody messes with a mated couple?" Spencer asked.

"And what I told you was nothing but the absolute truth," Hotch promised him. "However, many werewolves are of the opinion that two men cannot be officially mated and that no such bond can exist between those of the same-sex. However, what those werewolves believe and what is actually true are two totally different things."

Spencer considered that quietly his keen mind working rapidly through every scenario he could think of, but he believed what Aaron was telling him because what his mate said was true, because people could think two different things and what one person believed was true wasn't necessarily correct and vice versa of course.

"I'm afraid that a lot of parents don't teach their pups that their mates can be the same-sex they are because they don't like to think of them with someone that isn't of the opposite sex. Even if the parents do teach them that liking your own sex is okay, sometimes pups don't believe it," Hotch said.

"Yes, I can see that happening very easily," Spencer said after moment. "It happens in human families after all, so why not in werewolf families as well?"

"Especially since we are just as much human as we are wolf," Hotch added, thinking that his mate was accepting this pretty easily considering. But then he knew Spencer was an intelligent man and also a calm one, as he wasn't going to lose his temper, just because Hotch told him about the females that he had chasing after him. In fact, Spencer wasn't surprised at all, because it was just the way that the human race was programed and that was to go after any unattached handsome male or beautiful female and Spencer would know that and sometimes females would go after attached ones as well not caring if they were off the market.

"What we need to do is declare it," Hotch suggested just having thought of it.

"What do you mean declare it?" asked Spencer with a raised eyebrow wondering if Hotch meant what he thought he did.

Hotch again cursed Spencer's lack of upbringing in his head, but replied calmly, "Well, we announce it, when there are a lot of other werewolves around, which is almost always on the full moon. It's only happened a few times, because not many werewolves find their Lifemate at least in this area, but it is tradition to announce that we are officially off the market permanently in front of a bunch of other werewolves. Since we usually only get together on the full moon where there is like a hundred or more of us, that's usually when it's done, because word will then spread and we'll be thought of as nothing other than friends or associates after that. Declaring it should make even those persistent females back off and I curse myself for not thinking of it sooner. If they don't back off after we declare that our relationship is a permanent one, since that only happens when a wolf has found their Lifemate and if they persist in their pursuit of me, we can complain to Rolf the Alpha and they can be thrown out of the pack. At the least the Alpha could use his voice on them to make them obey and they wouldn't like that at all. The Alpha of the pack as you know has authority to make sure his orders are obeyed and if somebody still persists in their behavior, even after they've been warned a few times then they can be thrown out of the pack."

"That seems rather harsh," Spencer commented, "especially for what seemed like such a minor offence."

"Well, think of a declaration like an announcement of marriage. If you were married in the human way would you want some female or even another man to continue to pursue the person you were married to even if you or your spouse had made it more than obvious that they weren't interested in cheating by having a relationship outside the marriage?" asked Hotch.

"No, definitely not," Spencer answered immediately not even having to think about it.

"Well, in a way, being mated is like being married in the human world, except with the difference that there is no divorce as such, as it's not possible between two Lifemates," Hotch said. "Lifemate's never cheat on each other and no matter how many females continue to pursue me, although most of those will be human, they aren't about to get what they want. The reason I am telling you this now is I wanted you to be aware that I have had several female werewolves trying to get me into their clutches for several years, but even if you and I hadn't met I have absolutely no interest in pursuing a relationship with any of them and have told them so on multiple occasions."

Spencer considered that for a moment seeming deep in thought then came to a decision, one that immediately felt right and the wolf in him definitely approved, while Hotch waited anxiously.

"As I told you a week ago I trust you unless you prove to me that you can't be and therefore, that extends to these circumstances," Spencer told the older man causing him to relax. "I suggest that we declare it as soon as possible, because I will not have any female trying to take what is mine!"

The last word was said in an almost threatening tone that actually caused Hotch to chuckle a little mostly from relief.

"I am yours, heart, body and soul," Hotch swore firmly, kissing Spencer firmly on the mouth.

"I know," Spencer said more calmly. "If you had not told me about those females that have been chasing you before the full moon tomorrow night, then my reaction would likely have been very different, but since you did warn me, well, I'll be aware and watch very closely any females that approach you. I need to be aware of which ones to watch out for after all."

"You think they might try to scare you off," Hotch said with certainty in his tone.

"It's just a possibility and if you hadn't thought of it, I'm surprised, because you know more about werewolf customs and traditions than I do," Spencer said.

"I would have," Hotch admitted, "but I have been distracted for the last week or so. I really don't think the females that have been chasing me will go that far, because whether they believe in Lifemates or not. Once we declare it we are both off limits to anyone who wants more than friendship and there are serious consequences if they do continue trying to get me to sleep with them. If one of them puts their hands on me without my permission for instance and tried to kiss me, which has happened a few times with other females that finally gave up, after they were firmly rebuffed one too many times. Well, on those occasions I was a lot less polite than I normally am and actually made one of them cry. I was sorry, that I had made the woman in question cry, but if she hadn't kissed me like that well then I wouldn't have been so rough. After all I am not the only handsome man out there."

"I see there are some silly females among werewolves just like they are humans," Spencer said trying not to chuckle at the scene that caused to form in his head. Of course, the scene Aaron had described had happened before they had met and mated and if it happened when he was standing close by he would make sure that that female knew that Aaron was his and she would regret ever having tried as he could cut her down with a few words.

"I'm afraid that silliness or lack intelligence or at least common sense is not exclusive to humans as some werewolves suffer from it as well. We are partly human after all and some females or men for that matter just enjoy the chase and don't want to make a commitment to a specific person. I've always had females trying to get my attention, but most of them backed off when I firmly rebuffed them. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule as you know. I'm not saying that the females that keep chasing me aren't intelligence, just that they want to bed me and if I had given in that would've been the end of it for most of them."

"So they take your rebuffs as playing hard to get," Spencer summarized.

"More or less, although you would think as many times as I've rebuffed some of them by now they would get the point," Hotch said with a shake of his head. "There are plenty of fish in the sea after all, and I'm not the only handsome man out there, not even in the werewolf pack."

"So you believe that declaring it will get those few females that are still chasing you to give up?"

"It should," Hotch said shrugged, "and if it doesn't then those females aren't as intelligent as I believe them to be, because after all they know our laws and traditions, just as well as most other werewolves because all of them were raised in packs. It is a very rare occurrence for a wolf to not be raised in a pack like what happened to you and your brothers and if they aren't then they usually don't live very long."

"You can be perfectly intelligent and still be incredibly silly," Spencer said and Hotch nodded in wholehearted agreement.

"Some women take the men's rebuff as if a challenge has been issued," Hotch agreed. "At least with so many people there it is easier to avoid them for the most part as they're usually at least 100 or 150 people are there every full moon, and sometimes considerably more, it's usually quite the crowd."

Spencer gulped nervously.

"There's no reason to be nervous you will be accepted for if they do not accept you, then they do not accept me, as that's the way it works in a pack. If one mate is rejected so is the other one. Besides, the Alpha's word is law as you know and so as long as Rolf accepts you then the rest of the werewolves will to. Really, our laws are pretty simple compared to the human ones and there are certain things that are just not acceptable, bullying being one of them. The punishment for it could be quite severe depending on the situation," Hotch soothed his mate, though he couldn't really blame his mate for his apprehension.

"I sincerely hope you're right," Spencer said.

"I am and there are several other Omegas that are part of the pack in this area and they are accepted and that's just as it should be," Hotch said.

"Those Omegas you mentioned probably aren't going after something another werewolf wants," Spencer pointed out grimly. "I know enough about human nature to realize that when somebody intensely wants something they're capable of murder. Humans obsess about things all the time, even another human and that's led to murder before. I doubt very much that werewolves are different in that regard."

"No, they're not," Hotch said his voice a growl, "but if they dare lay one unwanted finger on you they will regret the day they were born."

"So why don't we just not leave the side of the other at least until I get to know some people," Spencer suggested logically. "I doubt very much that those females will dare try anything with you standing beside me and glaring at them. I've seen how people react when you glare at them enough times over the last week to know that it makes people very nervous at the very least."

"I've tried that before and while it makes those females very nervous they are always coming back for more, even if that's not until the next full moon," Hotch said.

"Which just proves that they're not very intelligent because your glare makes me nervous and it has never been directed my way. The way you glared at that police officer several days ago, because he was being deliberately obtuse and uncooperative made him extremely nervous and me to, even though I knew it wasn't directed at me. You have the most terrifying glare I have ever seen, which I know is just an extension of your rather forceful personality."

"What can I say it has come in useful over the years," Hotch chuckled wickedly causing Spencer to feel heat spread between his legs in his groin area making him desperate to relieve himself. Whoever knew that somebody's chuckle could do that to a person, but his mate's sure did. "I developed it after I came to work at the BAU several years ago and it has come in handy a few times."

"Well, I can certainly understand why it makes people nervous at the very least, even me and it wasn't even directed my way," Spencer said.

"It shouldn't make you nervous you know, because I'll never use it on you like I will on other people. The only reason I used it on that police officer a few days ago was because he was being deliberately annoying by acting as if he didn't understand the orders he was given or the request that was made and over the years I've learned that some officers of the law, do that just because they resent our presence. It's their way of making our lives as difficult as possible without being openly defiant, which could get them written up and that would be a permanent black mark on their records."

"I can understand why some police officers act like that," Spencer said. "As I'm sure you know some FBI agents have a arrogant attitudes and they push the local cops aside and take over. I'm not saying that all FBI agents are like that, not even most of them, but the ones that do give the whole agency a bad name and word spreads. I know, because of the bad apples in the agency, the team has to prove themselves almost every single time, just so they can get the job done."

"You're right of course," Hotch agreed amazed yet again at how intelligent his mate was.

The two of them fell silent for the rest of the ride back to Hotch's house, which was pretty far from where the two of them along with Spencer's brothers had had dinner.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	7. Chapter 7

Part 7

"Rolf, I'd like you to meet my mate, Dr. Spencer Reid. Spencer this is Rolf Lovell the Alpha of the local pack and this is his mate Joanna."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Spencer," Rolf said shaking the younger man's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too," Spencer said politely returning the handshake baring his neck in a sign of respect to the Alpha of the pack.

"Why don't you come in," Rolf suggested politely opening the front door of a small house.

Rolf led them into the den and offered them seats while Joanna took drink orders.

"So did you just move into the area?" Rolf asked Spencer and he nodded.

"Yes, sir, I did," Spencer answered politely and a little nervously. "I was at the FBI Academy for five months going through the training, after I graduated college in Massachusetts. As soon as I did graduate I was immediately assigned to the BAU, even though that's rather unusual."

"Spencer and I met, that first day since I am technically, his boss a meeting is required," Hotch added. "I knew immediately that he was my Lifemate."

Rolf listened as Hotch and Spencer took turns describing exactly what had happened between them.

"So if I'm understanding your story right you and your two brothers weren't raise in a pack like you should have been," Rolf said and Spencer nodded.

"That's right," Spencer agreed politely trying his best to conceal the hurt that that still caused even after all this time.

"How did you survive?" Rolf asked in astonishment even while he was shaking with rage. To throw three pups out of their pack for no reason…and they had only been seven at the time for God sakes! Seven! If he ever got his hands on Mack Burke Alpha of the Las Vegas pack he would regret ever being conceived. He was sure however, that Aaron was already planning to take care of that as soon as possible, since he was Spencer's mate and Lifemates were known to be extraordinarily protective of each other, especially the Alphas and Aaron Hotchner had one of the most forceful Alpha personalities that he had ever seen. He could've been an Alpha of his own pack if that was what he wanted, but he had no such desire and Rolf knew it and could respect him for it. He definitely didn't fear Aaron trying to take the local pack away from him by challenging him openly for the leadership, for Aaron would never do such a thing, as he was to honorable a man and it wasn't something he desired.

"Well, Aaron believes it's because my brothers and I formed our own pack, even if it was just the three of us," Spencer said calmly, his voice totally unemotional. "All three of us were extremely intelligent and in fact, it turns out that we all have genius IQs. We were smart enough, too keep our rather unusual situation to ourselves. The three of us also killed rabbits and squirrels on occasion in the forest that was near our house, but away from pack territory as that's all we could manage since we will still so young and small."

Spencer didn't mention that he and his brothers had had to become pickpockets in order to get money to put food on the table, well, besides, meat as vegetables and other food were also essential to growing children and also to buy clothes. He was sure that Rolf suspected it was something like that, since he now knew about their mentally ill mother and how else would three 7 year olds survive? However, knowing something in your head and having it confirmed were two totally different things.

"If it had been just me it is likely that I wouldn't have survived if dad had still left," Spencer admitted. "I accepted years ago that my father was worthless and don't think I don't realize that if Aaron has his way he won't be alive very long."

"Damn straight!" Hotch growled looking furiously protective. "Your father and Mack Burke will be dealt with, if they haven't already been by the local pack."

"I know you didn't grow up in a pack, Spencer," Rolf told the Omega werewolf gently, much more gently than he usually spoke, which usually only came out around his own pups or his grand pups. "So you don't really understand the Alpha of the Las Vegas pack did went against every law that we have and there has to be consequences. Think of it like putting a human criminal in prison, if that helps. You can't put a werewolf in prison, because we can't reveal what they are, so really the only option is to kill them or cast them out, which is also basically a death sentence, even if that's far kinder than they deserve in some cases. You can't just release someone who's done such a horrible crime like murder someone as they would only do it again. Now in Burke's case, he hasn't murdered anyone at least not that we know about and so being declared an outcast is an appropriate punishment."

"Burke threw three 7 year old pups out of the pack with the obvious intention that they commit suicide and that's attempted murder at the very least in my book," Hotch growled, his dark brown eyes turning the gold of the wolf and his fangs dropping as he was so pissed that he couldn't control the wolf in him at the moment, so he didn't bother to try. "Besides, there are no guarantees that Spencer, Dylan and Trevyn are the only three pups that Burke threw out of the pack for no reason as who knows if he convinced any other wolf to abandon their spouse and their children just because the spouse is human? Their father should've been dealt with years ago and they should've been taken in and nurtured by the entire pack. At the very least their father should have provided for his sons, but instead he left them with a critically ill mother with no support system in place, or any wolf around to teach all the things that pups need to know. He's just learning all that now when he should've learned it years ago."

"Don't think I don't agree," Rolf said calmingly, "because I do, but it's water under the bridge and there's no point of dwelling on it, even if I know your feelings are very protective. You have every right to be considering that Spencer is your mate, but you need to save your anger for those who really matters."

Hotch took a deep breath and nodded knowing that Rolf was absolutely correct.

"You're right," Hotch said more calmly, his fangs disappearing and his eyes returning to their normal brown. "I shouldn't lash out at other people who were not involved in abandoning three pups, so I sincerely apologize, because as you know I usually have good control of my temper."

"Apology accepted," Rolf said graciously. "I know how you feel, because I know that if anything were to happen to my mate Joanna like that I would be just as furious as you are and want to go tear whoever was responsible into teeny tiny pieces. So to change the subject are you going to declare your relationship?"

"Absolutely, Spencer and I have already discussed and we both agreed that it was the thing to do," Hotch said in a firm tone.

"And it will make those female werewolves that haven been flirting with you back off," Rolf suggested with a smile. He had often silently sympathized with Aaron when he was surrounded by females who had tried their best to get him to notice them and how Aaron had rebuffed them every single time. He had seen how Aaron had always been polite, but also how he grew increasingly frustrated at the half a dozen women that had refused to give up the notion of getting him into bed. Of course, those rather silly women were all old enough to know better as they were all at least 25. Some women thought that Aaron Hotchner was just playing hard to get and missed his frustration with them totally, and Rolf wasn't sure if that was deliberate or not.

In any case, Aaron wasn't the only unattached werewolf in the pack as those women also went after other handsome men and not just other werewolves either, but human's as well. Now though Aaron was taken as Rolf could nearly see the connection that flowed between him and Spencer Reid the ladies in question weren't going to like that.

"You don't seem upset that other women have been chasing your mate," Rolf said, directing his question to Spencer who had been quietly just listening to the conversation.

"Aaron warned me about it," Spencer explained briefly and Rolf nodded. "To tell the truth I'm glad he did because I have trouble trusting people, well, besides, my brothers and considering my upbringing that's not really all that surprising. Now though, I know to be on the lookout for those women. Besides, the wolf in me is urging me to trust him and I told him not so long ago that so long he never lies to me and is always honest then I will. Besides, I'm observant enough to know when someone is lying, even if I know I can refine my skills and so far Aaron hasn't lied to me. So long as he doesn't, at least until the human part of me learns to trust what I feel for him then we won't have any problems."

"Yes, I can understand that. It's the wolf part of you that makes you want to trust Aaron, but the human part of you that has trouble," Rolf summarized.

"More or less," Spencer agreed with a small smile, "I'm sure if I had grown up in a pack along with my brothers like I should have then I wouldn't have trouble trusting other people. I'm not saying I wouldn't be cautious, to make sure that they didn't mean me any harm, just that I wouldn't have as much trouble trusting other people besides, my brothers."

Rolf nodded, for he could understand that very well. "I hope you know that what was done to you was very wrong and that your former Alpha needs to be dealt with. We all know that Mack Burke expected you and your two brothers to commit suicide and instead you lived, so Aaron's theory is probably the correct one and that you and your two brothers created your own pack."

"If they hadn't been so intelligent creating their own pack wouldn't have mattered," Hotch said, as calmly as possible, although there was hot rage burning in his eyes.

"Yes, that's true enough," Rolf admitted feeling his own rage at what had occurred. Wolves were supposed to be protective of the packs pups and yet Mack Burke had thought nothing of throwing the three out of the pack for no reason other then that their mother had been sick and human. Or at least that was the only explanation for Las Vegas Alpha's behavior that they had at the moment, which had hardly been the three pups fault. Besides, werewolves would've died out years ago if they hadn't married humans and Rolf was sure that the non-wolf parent being sick had happened in the past at some point.

"In my head I know that," Spencer admitted softly, "but in my heart..."

"Things that happen to us in childhood affect us for the rest of our lives, especially something as traumatic as being thrown out of your own pack for no reason would definitely be considered traumatic," Hotch said and Rolf nodded knowing that this was true. "Being made outcasts like that could have turned all three of them against the world and turned them bitter. Instead they've tried to get past what happened to them as pups, even if all three of them will carry the emotional scars for the rest of their lives. The only reason I can come up with as too why they didn't turn bitter and hateful is the fact that they're intelligent enough to realize that doing so would only make them miserable, well, that and they come from good genes at least on their mother's side."

"So you want to declare your relationship after dinner, which is in about an hour?" Rolf said checking his watch.

"That will be fine, as we need to do it before the full moon rises in a couple of hours," Hotch said calmly. "That's one of the reasons that Spencer and I came here directly after work, so that he could meet you, without a lot of other werewolves around. Besides, this way we can do the announcement instead of waiting until next month and that's only if we could make it next month, as we might very well be out of town working."

"I know you're aware that those females that have been chasing you aren't going to like it," Rolf said and Hotch nodded grimly.

"Yes, I am aware and I don't care one bit how disappointed or upset they are since I found them annoying at best and pains at worst. Besides, all they wanted was to bed me and most of them didn't expect a serious relationship to come from it, they just wanted to add me to their lists of conquests. I've never been one to sleep causally with anyone, as I have to feel at least an emotional attachment to someone before I'l agree to sleep with them. However, they all know our laws just as well as I do and Spencer is catching up in that area rapidly as we've had several long conversations about that subject. In any case, once we do declare it that means that both of us are off limits in that way and I don't believe that those women are stupid enough to come after Spencer or me as that could very well get them thrown out of the pack at the very least. Possibly, even put to death depending on the severity of the offense. I know very well that some werewolves don't believe that two men can share a Lifemate bond and I don't particularly care what they believe, so long as they keep their opinions to themselves and leave Spencer and me alone. I know you are aware that if those women dare attack him you know that I will respond and it won't be pleasant for whoever is involved."

Rolf nodded. "I wouldn't blame you a bit because an attack on your mate, is like an attack on yourself and you have every right to challenge whoever's involved."

"And those women are no match for me and that's not bragging that's fact," Hotch said with a menacing grin. "After all, I've been through FBI training, even if that was many years ago now and that wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Also, I'm in excellent shape as I work out as frequently as my time allows. I know how to fight and none of those women would stand a chance against me and they know it."

"What you don't believe in not going up against a woman?" Rolf asked with a grin of his own.

"For the most part, no I don't," Hotch admitted. "I'm too much of a gentleman to give a lot of women what they really deserve, even if that's just a few sharp words, but if they dare try to attack Spencer I'll make an exception."

"Yes, I have to agree that normally you're much to polite to really be rude to those women that have been so annoying," Rolf agreed. "Believe me, I've noticed how they gather around you everytime you come for the full moon like bees to honey, but it wasn't my place to interfere and I know that you're not the only man they have been annoying with the way they have been acting like vultures, but some of those men are much ruder than you are."

"Well, I put up with it before now, simply because I didn't see them very much, except a few times a year for the full moon. However, if they keep it up after Spencer and I declare that our relationship is a permanent one then I am willing to be as rude as it takes for them to leave us alone, since they obviously haven't gotten the hints I've been giving them," Hotch declared looking fierce.

"You were to subtle for the likes of them," Rolf suggested, "as I don't think there is the single subtle bone amongst the lot. There is a difference after all between being intelligent and being able to pick up on subtle hints."

"Well, yes, I did get that impression," Hotch admitted. "None of those women that have been chasing me are stupid, they're just determined and think I'm playing hard to get, even when I'm not. You were right when you said there's not a single subtle bone amongst the lot of them and they certainly haven't been picking up on my hints or they've chosen to ignore them, which is possible to."

"It is likely a combination of both," Spencer suggested, entering the conversation. "Not every human being picks up on subtle hints like that no matter how intelligent they are. I've come across a few people like that when I went to college."

"I did too," Hotch agreed. "If that's the case, they should finally leave me alone once we do declare it."

"Yes, they should," Rolf immediately agreed, "I do think you'll have trouble with Elin Westerberg though."

"Who's Elin Westerberg?" Spencer asked.

"She's the Swedish exchange student that's going to Georgetown," Hotch explained. "She's been here for two years already and she's 25 a couple years older than you are. She's also an Alpha female to the extreme. She's been determined to get into my pants ever since she arrived and I've been politely turning her down every time. She believes that only she is worthy of me because she's another Alpha and she does have one of the most forceful Alpha personalities I've ever seen. However, she's also something of a bully, as much as it pains me to admit that about anyone in the werewolf pack."

"But us werewolves just like humans all have different personalities," Rolf said. "She's young enough that she could learn to use that rather forceful personality in a different way and not bully other werewolves into doing what she wants."

"I'm the only one that's ever stood up to her and refused to back down, which is why she believes that I'm the only one that is worthy of her," Hotch explained with a snort showing what he thought of that.

"She is going to be disappointed," Spencer said looking determined.

"She is, but she's not the type that takes disappointment well, so I would expect to try to get you to leave town, but since we're already mated, even if you did it wouldn't do any good," Hotch said, "and would cause considerable pain for both of us if you did."

"Do you think she'll come after me when I'm by myself?" asked Spencer looking a little apprehensive.

"She better not, because if you are injured, because of her I would have a legal right to drag her to Rolf for judgement and if that happens she could be thrown out of the pack or even killed, depending on how hurt you were. Lord forbid if you actually died..." Hotch actually shuddered in genuine horror at that thought. "If anything were to happen to you after I've just found you there would be hell to pay, I guarantee it," Hotch finally growled looking furiously protective, causing Spencer to feel safe, warm and protected on the inside. He knew with those words that Hotch truly loved him True Mating Bond or not and would do everything in his power to keep him safe, even break the law, well, the human laws, not werewolf law, even if they had only known each other a week.

"You see, a mated couple has a connection to each other," Rolf explained. "Those who are truly mates and didn't just marry because they think they love each other can tell when the others in trouble, especially if it's within a mile or two. You'll start to feel each others emotions soon, especially if they're strong, if you haven't already."

"I did feel something while we were on that case the other day," Spencer admitted slowly. "I felt how frustrated Aaron was that we had no clue to catch a young girl's killer, but I thought it was just my imagination."

"No, I was frustrated because that young innocent girl Darcy didn't deserve to die and I wanted so badly to give the family some peace by catching the man who did it," Hotch said.

"Which we did eventually accomplish despite the days of frustration," Spencer said with a smile.

"There are some cases that just affect us more than others," Hotch explained to Rolf who nodded. "The girl in question Darcy Miller was only 17 years old. From all the team found out about her she was just a sweet, innocent girl that got good grades and heading to college in a few months. She still had her whole life in front of her."

"Yes," Rolf said slowly, "that would probably affect me to if I had to try to solve her murder and catch the ones responsible. Actually, what you told me outrages me just like it does you because it reminds me of my own daughters Kathleen or Sadie. If something like that happened to them when they were that age well, I would've been outraged to. I would've hunted the killer down I guarantee it."

"Werewolves are very protective of their pups," Hotch explained to Spencer who nodded.

"Well, that makes sense since they are very protective of their mates," Spencer said. "I would think anybody that a werewolf considers family they would be very protective of. Besides, I was always very protective of my mom and my brothers and so were Trev and Dylan, but at that time I just figured it was the situation we found ourselves in, now though it makes sense."

"Well, welcome to the pack, Spencer," Rolf said and Spencer thanked him. "Are you looking forward to your first full moon with the pack?"

"Well, kind of," Spencer admitted. "I do love running as a wolf, but I'm really not a big crowd person."

"I'm not going to leave your side," Hotch promised. "Once you get to know some people you'll be more comfortable and as I told you earlier I have a lot of friends."

"And what about this Elin Westerberg you were telling me about?" asked Spencer.

"Don't worry the very visible mating mark on your neck should be a very big clue that you are taken," Hotch said, "And also the one on my neck as well. Elin, is a very intelligent lady and once we make our announcement I'm pretty sure that she'll leave us both alone, because there is no way to get a werewolf to have sex with her once they are mated. Of course, if it hadn't happened before we had done the deed and Elin had just happened to be in heat, which happens between January to March every year, even if it varies from female to female, well, no werewolf can resist a female in heat if they are unmated. However, thanks to the fact that I am already mated I am safe from her if she tried it, but as I said I believe she'll give up after this."

"And if she tries to eliminate the competition?" asked Spencer.

"Well, if anything happened to you as I explained well...She wouldn't be alive very long afterwards, as the pack would hunt her down and that's only if I didn't get to her first. I would have every legal right to tear her apart and take her life and if you were injured severely or even dead, well, I guarantee you I would show her no mercy whatsoever as she wouldn't deserve it and she isn't that stupid. In fact she's very intelligent, just obsessed with me and I've tried to explain to her that obsessions aren't healthy. Really, the only thing that's made it bearable is that I'm not here much except for the full moon and that's only maybe half a dozen times a year and in some cases much less."

"Technically, if anything were to happen to you he doesn't even have to bring it to my attention, especially if she caused your death. If that happened Aaron would have every legal right to deal with her in his own way. Very few of us survive the death of our Lifemates and in fact only a very small percentage are able to put up with the death of their mates whether that's from old age, an accident or because they were murdered. Usually the one left, well, their death follows in a short amount of time as most of us who are truly mated cannot bear to live without our other halves," Rolf explained. "This is especially true, for those who have only been together for a short amount time and not for decades, because when you've only been together for a month or two well the bond between two mates is very intense. If a wolf loses their mate, but they've been together for decades then there's more likelihood that the wolf in question will survive their death then if they've only been together for a very short amount of time."

"In any case, Elin knows the laws just as well as any werewolf and so obsessed or not I don't believe she'll try anything physical, though she will probably glare at you and spread nasty untrue rumors about you. Most won't believe them, as most werewolves know she's been chasing me ever since I refused to be intimidated by her rather forceful Alpha personality that most of the werewolves back down under."

"You have to promise not to leave my side, not even when were running in our wolf forms," Spencer said. "In fact, you have to promise that anytime that she's here for the full moon that you won't leave me, though I'm sure with her being in college she doesn't make it every full moon either. You can't leave me and run ahead as I don't particularly want to be attacked by other werewolves who are following her commands, ones that don't have strong enough personalities to be able to resist."

"I promise," Hotch swore. "We're only have to do it for a couple years because when she finishes her education she'll be gone."

"Unless she decides to move into the area which would be just my luck," Spencer said sounding extremely pessimistic.

"She would be thrown out of the pack if she tried anything," Rolf assured him. "I am Alpha after all and I don't allow bullying of other pack members. Also I would be informing other packs about her behavior and that would basically make an outcast, even if it wasn't official, because no pack is going to accept someone who tried to bully another werewolf for no reason. Most pack Alphas would be outraged someone going after some other werewolf's mate, leaders like Mack Burke not included. You have just as much right to be part of this pack as she does and technically, she has no claim on Aaron at all, even if she believes she does and I will make that clear to her if Aaron can't get it through her thick skull."

"Alright," Reid finally said giving in.

"Good," Hotch said pleased, because this meant that his mate trusted him to protect him from Elin and some of the other younger Alphas that would try their best to intimidate him as they had not yet learned that bullying was not permitted. "I won't let any harm come to you."

"I know," Spencer said quietly, but sincerely kissing Hotch on the cheek, "I know."

Rolf watched this silently smiling.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	8. Chapter 8

Part 8

"You can't be serious, Aaron!" Elin protested glaring angrily at Reid, who did his best to ignore it, which wasn't as hard as he thought it would be because Aaron had his arm around his waist making him feel protected and loved. Spencer knew that as so long as Aaron's arms were around him that no harm could come to him.

"I am," Aaron growled glaring at Elin so fiercely angry that the Swedish beauty nearly took a step back more from surprise then fear as this particular she wolf didn't scare easily. "We will be declaring it shortly, but I will warn you now if you do anything to harm Spencer you will live just long enough to regret your actions. You might have thought I was just playing hard to get, but I've never been interested in you in a romantic way and you refused to take the hint. I've never been one to give my affections causally and I need to have at least some feeling for a person, before I sleep with them and I've never thought of you like that. Now, while I never expected to meet my Lifemate that doesn't mean that I don't know all the signs. We have already bonded and there's nothing you can do about it."

"But two men can't be Lifemates," Elin protested, vehemently glaring at Spencer whom the wolf she had been courting had his arm around. She had to admit that Aaron looked far happier then she could ever remember him being and kept glancing at this Spencer Reid adoringly.

"Of course, they can," called someone from the crowd that was watching the confrontation. All of Aaron's friends within the pack had been very happy for him and Spencer and the only ones upset at the situation were those that had been trying to get his attention, although most of them weren't interested in anything more then a causal relationship, all except for Elin that is, who had wanted Hotch to marry her and make any relationship with him a permanent one. Even if that had come to pass though Hotch would've immediately divorced her the minute he had met Spencer and left Elin out in the cold, though he would've been showed to take care of any pups.

"Just because your family told you that two wolves of the same-sex couldn't be Lifemates doesn't make it true," called another voice from within the crowd.

"Wolves tell their pups all the time that their mate can only be the opposite sex they are, and it causes a lot of pain for a wolf if they just happen to be the same-sex as they've been trained from a young age to believe something that isn't true."

"You all stay out of this," Elin ordered the crowd her voice a menacing growl.

"If you didn't want an audience then you should have confronted Aaron privately instead of getting so furious, when you saw him kiss Spencer on the cheek," called another voice.

"All of us know that you've been chasing Aaron ever since he stood up to you and your rather forceful personality, but it was clear to us that he wasn't interested in you, as anything but a friend and you were the only one that didn't see it."

"Or more likely refused to," called another voice

"I tried to tell you very politely on multiple occasions that I wasn't interested, but you kept pursuing me," Hotch said firmly. "Well, I'm done being polite or subtle and I'm going to give you one and one warning only. Stay away from me and from Spencer, because if one hair on his head is harmed by any wolf in the pack I will know who is responsible and you will regret the decision to try to get others to do your dirty work."

"You actually believe I would do something like that," Elin protested vehemently. Inwardly she was amazed that the wolf she had been chasing knew her well enough to realize that she would use her very strong Alpha personality to get other wolves with weaker ones to try to chase this Spencer Reid out of town and if that didn't work to kill him. However, she knew that idea was out now, because the man she had been chasing, trying to get him interested in her was deadly serious that he would kill her if one hair on his mate's head was harmed. Elin well knew that Aaron was serious about that. A wolf had only one Lifemate and the marks on the side of both Aaron's and the other man's neck should have told her that these two really were mates because a werewolf only had the urge to bite their Lifemate and give them a permanent mark as that didn't happen if two wolves were just casual lovers. Besides, there was the whole connection thing between mates, even before they completed the bond.

Still, it galled her that all her hard work was for nothing, but she knew that there was really nothing she could do about it because she knew Aaron had been absolutely serious about the fact that if Spencer was harmed in anyway by wolves or even humans he would come looking for her. She knew that Aaron was bigger and stronger than her and it was likely that he would win in any contest whether he was human or a wolf. While she didn't want to believe that two men could be mates she had to admit the evidence of her own eyes.

She knew that she should have taken Aaron's hints as he had told her more than once that he wasn't interested with getting involved with anyone at the moment as he was just too busy with work.

Unfortunately, she knew she was very stubborn and she'd had no intention of giving up until tonight. She had never admitted it, but she had never really believed that a wolf had one Lifemate as her parents certainly weren't. Oh, she knew all the stories, but there was a difference in hearing all the stories and believing them and even if she had believed in Lifemates she also knew that only a small percentage of wolves ever found them. Just her luck she didn't go into heat for months yet and she had been intending to confront him when she did as she had known that he wouldn't be able to resist her advances if he was unmated.

Now though, he had found his mate, even if it was totally by accident and she knew that she had absolutely no chance of ever mating with the only wolf that had ever stood up to her rather forceful personality. She might be stubborn, arrogant and prideful, but she wasn't stupid and so she knew she was just going to have to give him up. Besides technically, Aaron had never been hers in the first place.

Even if she had succeed with her plans to have sex with him while she was in heat he and this Spencer Reid still would have met and Aaron would have dumped her like a hot potato as soon as they had, as it had happened in the past. If she had been pregnant at the time, which was likely she was sure that he would have gone through legal channels and done his best to get whatever children she was pregnant with placed in his care and probably made a good case why she shouldn't even have visitation rights. She was sure his mate would have helped him with that.

"You are quite capable of doing something like that, yes," Hotch told her bluntly. "Really, it is just part of human nature and we are partly human after all. Humans have been known to kill for the most stupid of reasons and obsession suicides happen all the time. Normally, the object of a person's obsession ends up dead, along with the person that was obsessed in the first place.

"You have been obsessed with me ever since I stood up to you and refused to back down, even though I tried to tell you subtly, more then once that I wasn't interested in you as anything, but a friend. To put it bluntly I hate bullies and that is what you are and I could never be more than casual friends with someone who goes out of their way to use their rather forceful personality to bully someone with a weaker one in order to get what they want. A true Alpha doesn't have to bully someone in order to get what they want and either your parents didn't teach you this or you didn't take their lessons to heart. Whichever one it is, I don't really care, but I'm warning you now you had better leave me and mine alone or you know exactly what will happen if you do not."

Elin looked outraged and then she hung her head, not doubting for even a second that the wolf she had been chasing would carry out his threat if she pushed him to far. No one had ever told her off for her rather forceful and bullying ways, but then she also realized that most of them didn't have strong enough personalities to stand up to her, so it wasn't really any wonder. The wolf in her had wanted to mate with this strong Alpha male, but even that part of her wasn't stupid enough to come between two Lifemates, because it would mean her death. The human part of her had no doubt about that at all and neither did the wolf within her that Aaron Hotchner would carry out his threat.

She, of course, had heard all the stories how one Lifemate couldn't live without the other or at least very few survived once their other halves passed away no matter the reason, which was why the penalty for coming between two Lifemates was so severe. Of course, werewolves laws were very strict anyway, simply because the species couldn't afford to have most humans find out about them and no werewolf could ever end up in prison, since they had to transform on the full moon so a pack would hunt down a rogue and kill them. Of course, those that were cast out of a pack, well most of them anyway didn't live more than a few months or a year at most, so it was also basically a death sentence.

There were rogues among the werewolves of course, or those that were just plain bad just like humans as no species was perfect and had good and bad people.

That Aaron didn't like her at all, at least in that way and never would have, because she was a bully hurt her, even if she knew deep down that what Hotchner had said was true. She knew that she could use her rather forceful personality in a different way and not bully people to get what she wanted or at least not use intimidation.

She knew that she could use those with less forceful personalities to do exactly what she wanted, even kill, and although she had been taught better she had been all prepared to do that just to get what she wanted, which ashamed her now. She had been all prepared just a few minutes ago to use other werewolves with weaker personalities to hunt Spencer down and kill him if he couldn't be scared off, but somehow Hotchner had known exactly what she had been thinking and had warned her instantly that if she tried it she was the one that would end up dead.

Of course, she well know that Aaron Hotchner was an intelligent man and extremely perceptive. She had now been warned that doing such a thing would only cause Hotchner to hunt her down and end her life and even she wasn't stupid enough to go ahead and do it, as she knew that she could never stand against him, especially not with most of the pack behind him.

Elin wondered briefly what had caused Aaron Hotchner to become so blunt, as before he had always been polite when he was brushing her off, even if it had always been abundantly clear that he wasn't interested in her, something she hadn't wanted to acknowledge at the time. It had to be because he had finally found his mate that he wasn't in the mood to put up with her antics anymore, ones that were designed to get his attention and worked on almost all males at least for awhile anyway, but had only annoyed him.

Hotchner had said she was obsessed and she now knew that she was and she also knew that wasn't a good thing as it made people whether humans are werewolves do stupid things and either get themselves arrested or dead.

"I would listen to Aaron," Rolf told Elin as he had been listening the entire time. "All of us here at one time or another have seen you being rebuffed by him and we both know how you kept pursuing him, even after he told you he wasn't interested. Now, while before you were just being annoying and he never complained to me, probably because he wasn't here very much and so just put up with it, now, that he has discovered his mate it's a totally different situation. You know our laws just as everybody here does and if you keep up your pursuit of him, even after he told you that he's now officially off the market and harm comes to either Aaron or Spencer... Well let's just say that it will likely be your life."

"I understand," Elin said with a sigh.

"Good, so long as you keep that in mind then you will always be welcome here as at this point you have committed no crimes," Rolf said.

Hotch relaxed once he saw that Elin had gotten the message and turned away with one last ferocious glare that said there would be retribution if she didn't listen to his warning.

"Come on, Spencer let's go get something to eat before the full moon rises," Hotch suggested.

Spencer followed his mate just to step behind ignoring the other wolves that were staring at his back. Spencer had said very little during the confrontation as he felt that Aaron was handling it quite well so he hadn't bothered.

"So what did you think?" asked Hotch not bothering to elaborate.

"About the confrontation of just a few minutes ago or about meeting some of the other werewolves?" asked Spencer.

"Both, although mostly about the confrontation," Hotch said. "I can tell that all the friends I have like you, even if you were quiet while I was talking to them."

"I'm not really one for conversation much at least not until I get to know someone and this is especially true where other werewolves are concerned," Spencer told Hotch quietly after Hotch had made sure to load his mate's plate with much more than he had ever eaten in one sitting before.

Spencer didn't bother to protest, as he knew that if he didn't eat it his mate would. If there was one thing he had learned about Aaron Hotchner in the very short time he had known him was that it did no good to protest, because Aaron had made it perfectly clear that he thought that his mate was too thin and was determined to put some meat on his body and get him up to what he considered a healthy weight for his body type.

"You know my history and you know why I'm rather wary around others of our kind," said Spencer and Hotch nodded for he did indeed. "As for the confrontation I thought it went rather well and your groupie has taken the warning to back off to heart and from what I saw of her she's just decided to do that in order to preserve her health."

"Well, as I said earlier Elin has never been stupid and she knows very well I'll carry out my threat, so the only logical thing to do really is to back off and stop pursuing me as if I'm a piece of meat on the market. My warning to her about harming one hair on your head wasn't just for Elin, but for every werewolf that was present. Declaring it should get most of them that have been bothering me and trying to get me to go to bed with them to back off.

"Before I met you, technically, I was an unattached male without even a girlfriend. Now though I am no longer unattached and off the market permanently. As I told you our laws are very strict about interferences and they have very severe consequences for trying to come between a mated couple, much more severe then just between a couple that are married, but not Lifemates and the reasons behind that should be obvious."

"Yes, it is, obvious why the laws are so strict when it comes to interfering between a mated couple," Spencer answered immediately. "From what you've told me in the last few days when one of the mated couple dies it usually leads to the other's death. Now if a couple of werewolves are just married it's not likely to lead to the death of the other if one dies, because just like an ordinary married couple they would mourn and grieve, but not commit suicide," Spencer said quietly taking another bite of his delicious dinner.

Spencer closed his eyes in bliss as the flavors of the meat hit his tongue.

"I know this and even though we haven't known each other long at all, I couldn't live if anything happened to you, so I can understand why the laws are so strict," Spencer continued quietly. Luckily, there were several spots between them and the other werewolves who were at the same table, so they were not close enough to overhear the conversation so long as they kept their voices down.

The full moon wasn't for another hour and some werewolves came at the very last minute as they just came for the full moon and not the socializing or the food, mostly because they didn't have the time.

"I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I feel exactly the same," Hotch said softly with a tender look in his eyes the made Reid want to kiss the breath out of him be knew that was for later when the two of them were alone and not around about a hundred other werewolves. "I'm not usually very good at expressing my innermost feelings, but I don't ever want you to doubt how I feel about you."

"I think you're pretty good at it myself," Spencer said trying his best not to blush.

"I might be to you, but I've had numerous people over the years tell me that I need to learn how to loosen up and express myself better. When I'm working it's different and I have no trouble expressing myself there, but in my personal life, the few times I've actually been on dates, well every single women told me that I needed to learn how to express myself better. Of course, I won't ever be going on dates again unless they are with you and so long as you understand how I feel others don't matter. Also, the friends I have here know me well enough to understand how I'm feeling, even without me saying anything or making it obvious and as for everybody else that's just an acquaintance or even basically strangers they don't really need to know what I'm thinking or feeling like my friends do as those kind of things are private. My childhood wasn't exactly conducive to me being very good at displaying what I'm feeling."

"Oh, yes, I know exactly what you mean," Spencer agreed. From what little Aaron had told him of his childhood it sounded somewhat similar to his own at least until his father had left. "My childhood might not have been quite as abusive is yours, but my father considered it a sign of weakness to display your feelings for all to see. It didn't matter that me and my brothers were children who didn't really have control over their emotions we were still supposed to hide them and not come running to him with every little problem no matter how major. Oh, no, it didn't matter that we were being severely bullied simply because we were years ahead of our classmates dad's attitude was don't bother me with your problems kid, it's not my business. I'm afraid that dad didn't take his father role very seriously and my brothers and I were supposed to solve our own problems, even though we were just children. Now normally, I realize that our mother probably could've handled our problems, but well, by the time father left her schizophrenia had gotten much worse, so she didn't even know what day it was, or sometimes even the year."

The bitterness in Spencer's voice was heartbreaking for Hotch to hear, although he could certainly understand it, since he felt the exact same way about his own parents, both of them and not just his father like Spencer. Of course, in his parents case, their marriage had been arranged so he could certainly understand their attitude towards each other, but their children should still have been raised with affection if not love.

"We'll discuss it at more in-depth at a later date, pup," Hotch promised Spencer. "Now is not the time unless you want one of the other werewolves overhearing."

"You're right of course," Spencer agreed looking around and noticing that there were even more werewolves present been there had been less than half an hour ago. Apparently, quite a few werewolves in the area had just come for a quick bite to eat and to run with other wolves on the full moon, but not to socialize.

"So do you ever come here with your sons and daughters?" asked Spencer.

"Yes, of course," Hotch immediately agreed. "All of them transformed at the age of two although not all at the same time. The change of course, varies from pup to pup. My sons and daughters are still young enough that they can't stay up all night, but there is a nice large clearing in the forest where we slept in our wolf forms more than once."

"So why didn't you bring them tonight?" asked Spencer curiously.

"Well, I told Maddy and Lisa that I wanted this first time to be just for us. I told them that I needed to introduce you to the pack and that I wanted you to be comfortable enough, before I brought my siblings into it. Luckily, other adults keep an eye on the pups just in case one of them lags behind. Most adults don't bring their children when they come for the full moon, not unless they're older and able to stay up all night. As wolves we're able to sleep out in the forest without fear of other predators, so the adults at least aren't unlikely to come to any harm, but still the adults have to work and the children have school and us wolves need sleep just like humans do as you know. Young children especially, need more sleep than adults, so they're to be able to function. Since I can't make more than half a dozen full moon every year Maddy and Lisa always bring my children here on those dates when I have to be out of town. I know that Maddy and Lisa will look after them and so will every adult within the pack, so I don't worry when I can't be there."

"So you do not worry about them being any type of danger?" Spencer said and Hotch shook his head negatively.

"No, because Rolf is a good Alpha and he would never put up with any shenanigans, especially those involving children. In other words, if somebody, whether adult or child or teenager tried to bully them and get them to do something that they knew was wrong, they're more than enough adults here to put a stop to that immediately. As I've already explained children are looked after by the entire pack and anybody who's acting inappropriately towards them whether that's trying to bully them or other things like trying to get them to do something that's inherently wrong like stealing, it would be put to a stop immediately and the perpetrator would likely be thrown out of the pack."

"And what about say pedophiles?" asked Spencer quietly.

"I won't deny that even werewolves can have someone who likes to fondle and have sex with little children, because we are after all a sentient species, but I guarantee you that a new werewolf's behavior is closely watched and if there isn't even a hint of that well to be fair they have to be caught in the act...and some are intelligent enough not to portray their predilections in places they know they will be carefully monitored."

"So, in other words, they go mostly after human children," Spencer said, "Human children aren't as carefully watched a lot of times, especially teenagers."

"No, they aren't, especially those that are over a certain age. A lot human parents don't warn their children about the evil people in the world and even if they do, well a lot of humans or werewolves for that matter are good at hiding it if there something wrong with them. One of our kind can usually sense if there is something inherently wrong with a person whether human or werewolf and so it rarely gets by a werewolves intimate senses. I'm not saying it doesn't happen occasionally where a werewolf doesn't sense that someone just smells wrong, or some other wolf sense gives that person away, but mostly our senses are to keen so we can tell that a person is just wrong in some way and we automatically avoid that person. You know that a wolf can smell when somebody is nervous for example or afraid and a wolf's sense of smell along with their other senses can usually determine why that is. Now a lot of time there is an innocent reason for someone to be nervous or afraid, so it's not a 100 percent foolproof, but still it's a good way to tell if someone, whether human or werewolf is someone you need to be careful of. Well, just think about your own experiences and how your wolf senses often got you out of bad situations or helped you avoid them entirely."

"Well, yes, that's true," Spencer admitted quietly. "I often avoided people that the wolf in me could somehow sense that they weren't entirely the image they portrayed."

"We can discuss this more later though, as it is nearly time for the moon to rise and I want to make that declaration and get it out of the way. Once we make it official all those females that've been bothering me including Elin will definitely leave me alone. A lot of werewolves believe that if you don't declare it then someone isn't officially off the market, despite evidence to the contrary. As I told you earlier declaring it makes it official and is considered being engaged with a wedding ceremony to follow."

"Yes, you did say that you don't ever declare it unless it is two Lifemates," Spencer agreed, "but shouldn't the bites we both sport mean basically the same thing?"

"Yes, they should and although the marks on the side of our necks signify that we are mates, a lot of times that's covered up by a person's shirt or jacket and isn't visible," Hotch said with a shrug. "Besides, sometimes a werewolf's pups aren't taught about the bite and what it signifies as some werewolf just don't believe in Lifemates. This means that they don't bother to teach their children that there is such a thing, which only happens between two werewolves that are meant to be together until the day they both die."

"But doesn't declaring it fall into the same category?" asked Spencer with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, yes, but declaring it has been part of our species traditions for centuries, but unfortunately, mates biting each other doesn't fall under the same category because until the last 50 or 60 years or so it wasn't widely known and that it only happened when two werewolves were Lifemates. You have to remember how women used to wear high collars that covered their necks and also long dresses. Women didn't have freedom until around the 1950s and 60s to wear clothing styles that revealed a lot of bare skin."

"Well, yes, women were considered property until recently," Spencer admitted, "whether that was the property of their father or their husband or their brother and therefore, didn't have any rights. Yes, I see what you mean," Spencer said finally thinking about it. "I'm certainly not a clothing expert, but I do know that styles didn't start to change until after the World War II, where women had to take the men's jobs while they went off to war. Yes, I can see why the bite on the side of the neck wasn't very common knowledge until clothing styles changed. It would have been considered improper at the very least for a women to display a fresh love bite before very recently and a lot of people would have considered them whores at the very least. Public displays of affection were frowned on until the last 30 or 40 years and some people even today still frown on displaying your relationship in public, even between two people of the opposite sex."

"But standards have changed," Hotch said and Spencer nodded. "Well, think about what you just said now while it was improper to display your feelings in public and also wearing something that was considered scandalous among humans, and it was also the same among the werewolves of the day and one of the reasons this was as we couldn't afford to stand out, but also because it was the accepted conventions of the day."

"Alright, I can see what you mean," Spencer said slowly. "I would've worked it out for myself once I learned more about werewolves, but thank you for explaining it to me."

"You're welcome," Hotch said, "but now let's go tell Rolf that we'll ready to declare our relationship, and get that out of the way as the full moon is going to rise in just 15 minutes and everybody that's coming this month is already here."

"Alright," Spencer agreed immediately. "The sooner, the better."

Hotch didn't say anything, but he couldn't agree more than with that sentiment.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	9. Chapter 9

Part 9

Spencer woke up slowly with a yawn. It was the day after the full moon and he could honestly say that he had never been happier in his life. Aaron had made it more than clear to all the werewolves present, especially the ones that hadn't arrived, when the confrontation between Elin and his mate had taken place, that he was off the market and anybody who interfered in his relationship and tried to come between the two of them would face the consequences.

The ladies, besides Elin, who had been trying to get him into their clutches had been extremely disappointed, but they all knew better than to get between a mated couple and besides, there were plenty of fish in the sea.

Spencer knew that Aaron was relieved that he would no longer have to fend off those women's advances and could just relax and enjoy himself whenever he went for the full moon and not have to keep an eye out for the half a dozen unattached women, that had been pursuing him wanting to get him into bed and perhaps, into a serious relationship. Some of those women might have been rather scatterbrained or at least acted like that, but they weren't stupid enough to not know the laws and what would happen if they kept trying their usual tactics to get Aaron to notice them because he was now mated and officially off the market.

He had never imagined that he would ever get married or even be in a serious relationship, but in the short time he had known Aaron Hotchner he knew that his life had immediately changed for the better the minute he had walked into Hotch's office just over a week ago and caught the other man's scent and now he would have it no other way.

Spencer studied Aaron's face and noticed how relaxed and boyish it looked in sleep and how the lines that would normally be present when he was awake were relaxed and nearly invisible. His mate looked at least 10 years younger when he was sleeping. Spencer enjoyed the feeling of his mate's arms curled around his body to where he and Aaron were as close together as possible, both of them laying on their sides facing each other.

Spencer tried not to blush as he thought about the wild passionate sex the two of them had enjoyed before dropping off to sleep and how Aaron had woken him up twice in the middle of the night to make love to him as he had been extremely horny, before the two of them had cuddled together and dropped back off to sleep.

Spencer remembered not objecting in the least when his mate had wanted to have his way with his body and the wolf in him practically purred like a kitten at the loving attention that Aaron lavished on him before finally entering him. Aaron had made sure that he knew that he was adored and not just for the sex, although that was certainly a major part of it. He and Aaron had spent multiple hours just sitting together on the couch talking and learning as much about each other as possible, over the last week, before the full moon. Both men realized however, that they would still be learning things about each other even years from now, just like any ordinary couple that didn't have the benefit of a Lifemate bond to know they had finally found their true soulmate. They might be learning things about each other for the next 10 years, but they would never get a divorce as that wasn't possible between two werewolves who were mates, and that was absolutely fine with him for he felt more content and happy then he ever had in his life so long as Aaron was near.

At first Spencer had been unsure about what Aaron had told him that night after they had first met, for after all, he hadn't been raised in a pack like Aaron had been and so he had no frame of reference for what Aaron was telling him and was unsure if it was true or not, though the wolf within him agreed with everything that Hotch had said. Now he knew that Aaron had been telling him nothing, but the absolute truth as he had come to trust older man just in the short week he had known him and he knew that trust would only grow the longer that he knew Aaron Hotchner. It was going to be extremely difficult at best to hide his feelings for his boss over the next year or two, but it had to be done and he knew that. However, he couldn't wait for the day when he and Aaron could finally reveal their relationship to the team, if only so the two of them could share a hotel room when the were out of town for work instead of him having to bunk with Morgan and Aaron with Gideon.

The day they no longer had to hide what they felt for each other would be a day well worth celebrating, even if the rest of team never found out that they had been together ever since his very first day at the BAU.

Spencer came back to himself realizing that he needed to pee and so he tried to extract himself from where his arms and legs were tangled with his mate's, so that he could actually get out of bed and do that.

Spencer was reluctant to move from where he was very comfortable, but the call of nature could not be denied and so he gently began to extract himself trying not to wake up his mate.

Just as he was moving his arm from where it was tangled with Hotch's the older man moved in his sleep and the two of them became even more tangled than before. Even when he was asleep Aaron was unwilling to be parted from the man he had come to love so much and instinctively moved his body to prevent that from happening.

Spencer sighed and finally decided that he was going to have to wake his lover up so that he could get up and use the restroom, since in his sleep Aaron refused to allow him to leave somehow instinctively knowing even while he was deeply asleep that's what was happening.

Spencer kissed his mate on the cheek thinking that he didn't mind Aaron's possessiveness in the least, even though if it was anybody else he would have resented it as he had always been extremely independent, but considering his upbringing that wasn't surprising.

However, with Aaron he didn't mind the possessiveness and was surprised that he did not. The wolf within him was urging him to trust Aaron with everything and he would never be disappointed or betrayed and so far the evidence pointed in that direction. The human side of Spencer was still a little wary, but even that part of him was beginning to trust. Spencer figured in a year, he would trust Aaron Hotchner with everything, and it would probably be sooner than that they would just have to wait and see.

Spencer mentally shook his head, because normally he was a man of science of logic and not of feelings, but the feelings he had for Aaron Hotchner were already so deep he knew, just as he had told the other man, that it would destroy him, if anything were to happen to him. Following logic his feelings really didn't make any sense considering he had never believed in love at first sight or in the idea that that could be just one person out there for you, but whether they made sense or not Spencer knew his feelings were real. He wasn't stupid enough to throw away the best thing in his life just because it didn't make any logical sense of how his feelings had developed so quickly.

Finally Spencer managed to extract himself from Hotch's embrace without waking him up or so he thought, but just as he was about to get out of bed an arm snaked out and caught him around the waist.

"Where are you going?" asked the deep voice of Hotch in a sleepy growl, that made Spencer's insides go all too mush, as to him it sounded incredibly sexy.

"Just to the bathroom," Spencer promised him turning around just enough to give his lover a kiss on the lips.

"Hurry back," Hotch told him as he released Spencer's waist.

Spencer got up off the bed and hurried to the bathroom that was part of the master bedroom and did his business and was back in less then two minutes.

"See that didn't take me long," Spencer told his lover, as he crawled back into his side of the bed and immediately cuddled up against the warm form of his mate.

"No, it didn't," Hotch admitted his arms immediately coming to snake around Spencer's much smaller form. "It just seemed to take longer than it actually did and I'm sure you can guess why that is."

"Because the bond between us is still new?" Spencer said, although his tone was more of a question then a statement of fact.

"That's exactly right," Hotch confirmed. "Once we've been together for a few months that intensity of missing your partner will lessen somewhat or at least enough to make it more manageable. Once we've been together for a year, possibly two, the intensity will fade a lot more and while you will always miss your mate you'll barely notice, especially if you're busy."

"Well, that explains why I missed you so much when we were at work that Monday after we mated. I had a hard time concentrating and have ever since we met. I've been trying not to make it obvious that I am distracted, since I definitely don't need any of the team to notice, but it's not exactly been easy. I mean you can go hide in your office so your distraction isn't obvious, while I don't have an office I can hide in. It was a little easier when we had that case, basically, because we were sitting side by side."

"Ah! You noticed that," Hotch said realizing he shouldn't be surprised since he knew his mate was an observant man.

"Oh, yes, because the relief I found at being so close to you, even if we couldn't actually touch caused my nerves not to be so on edge and I wasn't as distracted, because you were sitting beside me instead of you being in your office and me in the bullpen. It is as if I need to have you in my sight in order to let my inner wolf know that you are actually physically fine and when you aren't, well, my wolf gets nervous, which translates into me being nervous."

"That to will die down in about six months," Hotch promised. "Right now the bond is still so new, that's just what happens when we're separated and out of each others sight."

"It can't come soon enough for me," Reid said with a grimace. "It's very hard to concentrate, when your nerves are jangling in alarm, because your mate is out of sight, even if those feelings don't make any sort of logical sense."

"It hasn't exactly been a cakewalk for me either," Hotch said soothingly. "I know I'm more practiced at hiding my emotions and I also have the sanctuary of my office to hide myself away, but I've had to stop myself from coming out to check on you more than a dozen times a day, ever since we met, through sheer force of will."

"Well, at least it's mostly only when we're in the office that were out of sight of each other," said Spencer calming down after realizing that Aaron was having the same problem he was.

"So far," Hotch said sounding extremely pessimistic, which was pretty unlike him but then again he hated to be parted from his mate for even an hour, much less all day and at night it was even worse when they were on a case and couldn't at least share the same bed.

"It's only a year until we can start showing our feelings for each other," Spencer said being the voice of reason this time. "As busy as I've heard the BAU is, a year will pass really fast. I'm not saying it won't be difficult, just that we'll get through it."

"We will," Hotch agreed. "I was thinking that two years would be better before we started showing our feelings, but I don't think either one of us could manage to go that long without sharing a hotel room when we're gone."

"Or showing our feelings at work, even if it is just a squeeze of the hand or a subtle touch on the shoulder or back," Spencer added Hotch nodded.

"Normally, subtle gestures like that wouldn't be picked up by most people, but the team is extremely observant and they would be asking questions and we wouldn't be able to lie to them."

"I wouldn't lie to them anyway as that would break they're trust in me and once somebody's trust is broken it's nearly impossible to regain it, so it's best to be honest from the start," Spencer said.

"You know us making up some story about how we just realized that we really liked each other is technically lying, but in this case, it's necessary," Hotch said.

"Well, yes," Spencer admitted, "still, I'd like to keep the lies down to a minimum and only what is needed for the team to not to find out that we're werewolves. As for everything else I plan on either telling them it's none of their business or being completely honest. However, I will not have anybody question me about my personal life as that's definitely nobodies business, especially not about my relationship with you."

"No, our relationship is private," Hotch immediately agreed. "We're going to have to set some ground rules for Morgan in particular, as he can be extremely nosy and as you said a few days ago he's already started to consider you a little brother, which means that he'll butt into your life whether you want him to or not. He seems to think that you need protecting from the big bad world and that you are totally innocent."

"I might come across like that, but if Morgan knew the truth he would no longer consider me a unworldly, innocent kid who led a sheltered childhood," Spencer said.

"It's all a matter of perception and how you portray yourself," Hotch said and Spencer nodded.

"I know and those first impressions are often very hard to change later. Besides, in some ways Morgan's right I am innocent, I was innocent when it came to sex before you and I found out we were Lifemates for instance. I was a total virgin before that point in time just a little over a week ago. However, I am not unaware of the dangers in the world like Morgan believes."

"You just have that kind of quiet personality that makes people think that you are. You're just one of those people that come off that way, whether or not it's true because you are so self-contained," Hotch offered.

"Oh, well it doesn't really matter," Spencer said with a shrug, "what Morgan or anyone else thinks of me doesn't matter, so long as they know I can hold up my part on the team."

"You will as Gideon never would have recommended you if he didn't believe you would be an asset and from what I've seen so far I have to agree. Besides, we likely never would have met if not for Gideon so for that alone I will always be grateful to him, even if he'll never know it," Hotch said.

Spencer went pink with pleasure at his mate's towards knowing that Aaron meant them.

"You know I have a feeling that Morgan's going to do a lot arguing and fussing once he finds out about our relationship," Spencer said to cover his embarrassment at his mate's words. "As we both know he does see me as a little brother or is at least is starting to and therefore, believes I need protection. It's not going to be easy to convince him that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if he accused you of taking advantage of my naïveté and while technically you did, I also understand why you did it or at least I did afterwards. Convincing Morgan that it was a mutual decision is not going to be easy or at least I don't believe it will be."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it and let's not worry about it in the meantime," Hotch recommended. "You're right, he's going to be the most difficult one to convince besides, Gideon as the others will just accept it, so long as we're both happy. I know that neither JJ or Garcia will be a problem, although we're still going to have to keep it within the team at least while at work, because if Strauss finds out she'll use it to separate us. She really is that vindictive."

"Well, the one time I met her I didn't like her very much," Spencer admitted, "and there is a saying that first impressions are lasting impressions."

"Trust me," Hotch snorted with a smirk, "Strauss goes out of her way to be disliked. My old mentor David Rossi is the only one that likes her even a little bit and I think that's because they used to be romantically involved, decades ago."

"Well, I've always wanted to meet David Rossi ever since I read every single one of his books," Spencer said with an excited spark in his eyes.

"Oh, I'm sure you will eventually, since Dave and I get together sometimes just for dinner and to catch up with each other. That doesn't happen too often, considering how busy I am, but we stay in contact through phone calls and emails.

"I bet you he will be astonished that you now have a male lover," Spencer snickered.

"He will," Hotch admitted, "since I only ever dated women before, but he doesn't exactly know that I'm a werewolf, with only one Lifemate and therefore, he'll be unaware of the circumstances that brought it about. As for me I was aware of the possibility that my mate might be the same-sex I was, whenever I considered such an idea of finding them, but I never took the idea to seriously, because I had only ever dated women before we met. Then again, my father would have beat me black and blue if I had ever dared dated another boy back when he was alive, Lifemate or not. In any case, once Dave gets over his astonishment he won't object, because in our job we see too much to object something as basic as having a lover or a partner of the same-sex. It might be considered wrong in certain circles, but who cares about that," Hotch added with a shrug. "As for anyone else, total strangers or even casual acquaintances it's really none of their business. I doubt most of the people that we help or anybody else will ever find out about our relationship unless they are very observant since we both act professionally on the job."

"Yes, I have noticed, that most people are not very observant," Spencer admitted his heart silently going out to his mate when he had revealed how his father would have beat him black and blue just for dating someone of the same-sex. He knew that his dad would have reacted the same, but would have heaped scorn, as well as every derogatory description he could come up with onto him instead of beating him to a pulp. "That's partly what made me and my brothers pickpocketing so successful. Most people never noticed that their wallets were gone and then put back. As I said I'm not proud of what me and my brothers had to do, but we had to survive somehow and we were intelligent enough to know that we never would have made it on the street or at least the odds of it were slim. My brothers and I always chose our targets carefully and always observed for awhile before we made our move."

"Those days where you had to steal to survive are over," Hotch ordered his tone brooking no argument and Spencer nodded.

"They are," Spencer assured him. "We stopped the day we went to college and started tutoring instead. To tell you the truth me and Dylan and Trev were relieved that we didn't have to pickpocket any longer in order to put food in our bellies and clothes on our backs as we always felt incredibly guilty for doing it, even though we never took very much. Tutoring brought in plenty of money for us to buy clothes and even food, although that wasn't really necessary thanks to Leo and Gertie. The two of them would have bought our clothes to if we had let them, but as I said to tutoring brought in plenty of money and a pair of jeans and several t-shirts is not exactly very expensive. Now though all three of us have good jobs so those days are behind us."

"You were incredibly lucky that nobody ever caught on to what you were doing," Hotch said.

"Well, we kind of varied the places that we pickpocketed from," Spencer explained. "One day it would be the mall where there were plenty of targets, and the next we'd go to the movie theater, places where normal teenagers or children hang out, so we didn't look out of place."

"Your father is going to pay in blood, for what he did to you," Hotch said his his expression extremely ferocious and vengeful, "and Mack Burke to unless of course, the Las Vegas pack has already dealt with him."

"Just remember that if my father is mated and has children that you promised you wouldn't kill him," Spencer pleaded.

"I did," Hotch admitted, "but I consider that extremely unlikely. I'm not saying that he can't be married again, probably to a werewolf this time, but being married and having found your Lifemate are 2 totally different things. If there are children involved, then we'll simply take them in. I know we can come up with a believable story, about how we were visiting your old hometown, so that you could show me around and found out that your father had died, but had had another child or two before he did."

"We have to consider the mother," Spencer pointed out and Hotch nodded. "She would have custody of them, if something happened to the father."

"True enough," Hotch said. "It's a possibility that the mother could have died doing childbirth or left her husband unless they are Lifemates of course. There are multiple scenarios and I'm just saying we need to prepare for the possibility of having to take several more children in, in advance just in case, it does happen. I know that it's unlikely that something happened to the mother if he does happen to have more, but werewolves are not immortal after all and they too can die in childbirth due to complications. It doesn't happen as often because our species tend to be hardier on the whole as we have multiple pups at one time on a regular basis. It is an extremely rare event when we only have one pup at a time as it's usually at least twins. Even my parents who definitely were not Lifemates had sextuplets that first time and various other multiples until my mother refused to have anymore, from my father anyway and that's only because he didn't care in the least that he was wearing my mother out with so many births so close together."

"Your father sounds like a right bastard," Spencer said not afraid to express his opinion knowing that Aaron would never hurt him.

"Oh, he was, trust me on that. He died at a relatively young age due to a heart attack and I promise you I don't miss him in the least," Hotch snorted. "There were about 10 years separating my parents as you know and that's about the same amount of time that separates us except I'm 12 years older than you are instead of just 10, but still it's a relatively close comparison."

"So your parents didn't at least have affection for each other then at the beginning of the marriage," Spencer said and Hotch shook his head negatively.

"Definitely not and in fact they were very cold towards each other. I'm pretty sure they hated each other, even from the time they got married until the time that my father died at just fifty or at the very least they were indifferent to each other and only went through with the marriage because their families were pressuring them."

"Well, as cold as their marriage was I'm glad they decided to go through with it or you wouldn't have been born," Spencer said with considerable feeling. "I doubt very much if you had never been born than I ever would have married some woman I believed I loved and had a few children. The chances of me marrying some woman that was also a werewolf like am are practically nil as I don't trust most werewolves enough to get that intimate with them and marrying some human women, then telling her that I was a werewolf, were also practically nil. Personally, I don't know how people like my father actually reveal that they are not completely human, to someone who has no ideas that werewolves are something more than fiction."

"Well, humans don't always accept what they are told," Hotch admitted, "and usually that leads to their death as we can't have them knowing about us unless they are actually married to another werewolf. If that werewolf leaves and they have pups, then most of the time those humans are welcomed to the pack for their pups sakes if for no other reason. Of course, there is exceptions to every rule and sometimes werewolves have children out of wedlock and the human has no idea that they just gave birth to pups that will turn into werewolves on the full moon."

"Yes, you were telling me earlier that in that case they're usually killed, instead of them being told about werewolves," Spencer said. "I agree with what you said earlier and that the human in question should be told that their children will turn into werewolves on the full moon after they turn two and if they don't accept it then and only then should they be killed. I don't really believe in killing for that reason, but I do understand that keeping the secret that werewolves are real is very important and that it is necessary in some cases, but still I think it should be used as a last resort and not as a first option."

"Some packs do that," Hotch said. "Mine did when it happened a couple of times when I was growing up, but some packs consider it to great a security risk, although to me that's just an excuse as it wouldn't take much time or effort to tell the human involved about werewolves and then make sure they accept it, before leaving them on their own. I mean what's the difference between telling some female that she's carrying werewolf pups or some male that his wife is not exactly human and therefore, the pups will be the same and having some human that's married to a werewolf already knowing the secret. They're practically the same thing."

"For the females in particular I would think that would be the thing to do because most of them have very strong maternal instincts and would never think about putting their children in danger, although I realize that there are exceptions to every rule."

"Yes, I totally agree with that," Hotch said. "There are exceptions like you said. Take my mother as an example, but then my mother was forced into an arranged marriage, so that's not really a good comparison."

"So how many brothers and sisters do you have?" Spencer asked.

"You are going to be so astonished at the number that you going to want to disbelieve what I'm telling you," Hotch said with laughter in his voice.

"So tell me," Spencer urged him. "I know that sometimes werewolves have quite a few children as it was that way in my own pack well, before we were thrown out of it. I knew one set of parents that were Lifemates that had over a dozen children, but only because both had good jobs and could afford to. I know you told me about the female werewolf that had 15 children between her four different husbands and I know I shouldn't have been so surprised, since I know that sometimes werewolves have extremely large families. However, I had actually forgotten about the werewolves in my pack that did have a dozen or more children until you brought up the female that had 15 with various males."

"Just so you know 12 to 15 or so pups is really about average in a werewolf family so long as there's plenty of money to take care of them of course. To get that many you will don't have to get pregnant more than four or five times, maybe six depending on how many you have each time, of course. In most families that happens with only one spouse and not two or more. However, we might be partly wolf, but we still have human traits and many humans have more than one spouse and children with all of them, so it shouldn't seem all that unusual that werewolves are the same way. Sometime our kind have sex without being married or bothering to use protection or getting married several times and having children with all of their spouses. Just so you know though, the one thing that is definitely disapproved of just like it is in human societies and that is having more than one spouse at the same time. If it is discovered it makes that werewolf an outcast and we know that usually a wolf without their pack doesn't survive very long, but they still have their family to fall back on, so it doesn't usually lead to their deaths. However, they are being made outcast in that case means being denied running with their pack in the forest on the full moon."

"There are ways around that," Spencer said immediately putting aside his question of earlier for the time being. "The wolf in question could go out of their former pack's territory and just run in a forest that is still close to home just for example."

"Yes, that's true, but he would be alone and just because he's been made an outcast doesn't mean that his pups would have been, since they would have committed no crimes and so they would still be welcome to run with the pack on the full moon. Some wolves do make the mistake of having more than one spouse at the same time and almost always it is discovered, even if they're both human or even one human and one werewolf and they are immediately thrown out of the pack. Whether or not, a werewolf has found their Lifemate or they just marry having more than one spouse at a time is considered a grave offense at least in this part of the world. As you know, no werewolf once they have found their Lifemate would ever consider taking another. For those that believe they're in love or they actually are, even if it's a shallower love then those that have found their Lifemates it is considered the height of bad taste to have more than one spouse."

"Besides, werewolf or not our species still have to follow the human laws and having more than one spouse at the same time is definitely against them," Spencer said.

"Yes, it is," Hotch agreed.

"So I know you're trying to distract me by given me so much to think about, but I still want to know how many siblings you have," Spencer said.

"Well, it's not exactly a state secret," Hotch said finally giving in, as there was really no reason for his mate not to know. "Just be prepared to be astonished, since every time I told someone how many siblings I have they are absolutely flabbergasted, although I will admit that all of them have been human and not wolves. My mother had 29 children in just about 12 years from the time she was 18 until she reached 30 and refused to have anymore."

"29? There are 29 of you?" Spencer nearly choked on the number.

"Yes, 29, in just the course of 12 years and as I'm sure you can guess they are all higher order multiples for the most part although there is a set of triplets in there as well. Me for instance am the oldest of sextuplets, 3 more boys and two girls and every single one of them, except for my brother got my father's black hair and dark brown eyes while Sean got my mother's brownish blonde hair and blue eyes."

"29 seems excessive not to mention the eight that are you're half siblings, which makes 37, altogether," said Spencer.

"Believe me, my mother and most of my siblings agree with that opinion, but as I said my father was a rather mean-spirited and cruel man. He only saw my mother as a babymaker and nothing more. I truly believe that if he had been home more or if my mother hadn't refused to be a babymaker anymore by the time she was 30, I would have probably another 10 to 15 siblings, but as it is pups came along every couple of years until my mother decided that she was not having anymore and of course, my count doesn't include the four that died. Those triplets I mentioned were really quadruplets, but one didn't survive, which happens even with werewolves, even if we tend to be hardier than normal human infants. The set of quadruplets was supposed to be quintuplets and again one of them didn't survive and also the first set of sextuplets which came after me and my three siblings was supposed to be seven instead of six and you can guess what happened."

"That's only three," Spencer said.

"Well, I already mentioned the other one a few days ago about how my half siblings were nine when they were born, but only eight survived."

"So, your mother only lost three children, while she was married to your father, but then she lost another one when she got pregnant from whoever her lover was," Spencer summarized.

"Yes, I am amazed that she only lost four children, especially having so many and so close together, well, except for the little girl that was lost after getting pregnant by her lover. There is nearly twenty years between the birth of my youngest siblings and the birth of the eight that I now consider my pups instead of just my siblings, but because of that most of the pups survived when they likely would have died if my half siblings had been born even ten years ago, much less 20, as medical technology wasn't as advanced back when my siblings were born."

"You know I regret that we'll never be able to have children of our own even though I didn't have a very good example when it comes to parenting. However, all me and my brothers have wanted since we were about 14 is to have a few pups as you call them with someone we love, whether that's a Lifemate or not, but since we are both male that isn't possible. Don't get me wrong I don't regret, getting involved with you, it just means that we'll never be able to have any pups of our own that's all," Spencer explained sounding melancholy.

"Believe me, I've felt the same way several times over the short week I've known you," said Hotch not in the least offended. "Really it's only natural to want to have pups with the person that you love, especially if that person is your Lifemate, but since we are the same-sex that is impossible for us, but I do have eight pups that you can consider your own. In fact, I would like you to adopt them quietly sometime in the next year or two so that in case anything happens to me."

"I would be happy to, although it would have to be after the team, especially Garcia know about our relationship. I know I haven't known Penelope Garcia long, but I do know that she's extremely nosy and she might uncover the adoption if she didn't know about it beforehand, which means that our relationship would no longer be a secret."

"Why do you think I suggested we wait a year even two before we did that," Hotch smirked. "I see you picked up on her extremely nosy nature and while that makes her a good technical analyst it can be something of a pain if you're trying to keep something from her, especially if you put it on computer."

"I suppose we should get up and let the children know that we are alive at least," Spencer said unenthusiastically.

"Yes, we should," Hotch agreed also unenthusiastically. "You'll find in your work with our unit that free time is very scarce when we aren't at least on call and we don't get a lot of weekends off because we're already involved in a case."

"So long as we can work together I wouldn't have it any other way," Spencer promised. "If either one of us had different a job then we would be parted far more then we're going to be, even if we have to sleep separately for now."

"Well, yes, that is one bright side to us both working for the same unit of the FBI," Hotch admitted. "We'll be able to spend at least double the amount of time together, even if for a lot of it we're working."

"But at least we'll be together, even if we can't display our feelings while we're on the job," said Spencer.

"And we have to consider that once the team knows about our relationship we'll be able to act more normally when we're not working, like when we're eating out with the others. The team does need some downtime while working a particularly difficult case, even if that's just taking a break by eating somewhere like Denny's. You'll find that we put in long hours before a killer kills again, so we don't get very many breaks unless it's for food or sleep," Hotch said.

"The human body can only take so much without sleeping and eating, as we do need to recharge our batteries every once in awhile, especially if we've been up for 24 hours or more because we didn't want to take a break," Spencer said, "and werewolves also need to fuel up and sleep on a regular basis, just like humans do."

"A lot of times the team doesn't want to take a break, but we do think better after some food and rest, especially as you said if we have been up for over 24 hours straight, which does happen sometimes depending on what type of case it is and if the killer is moving fast," Hotch said.

The two men were silent for a few minutes and then they reluctantly got out of bed to get dressed and to see the children and spend sometime with them as a didn't have to work since it was Saturday.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	10. Chapter 10

Part 10

"What are you doing?" asked Hotch as he came into the living room where Spencer was busy on his very ancient laptop, which he refused to get rid of because it had been a gift from Leo and Gertie and therefore, had sentimental value.

It was the very next day, which was Sunday and the two men had had a very pleasant day with the eight children watching movies on DVD and spending time in the park, which was quite a distance away from the house.

"Well, I was looking to see if there was any other Reids in the Las Vegas area," Spencer explained. "Ones that were born in the last 10 to 16 years. I'm certainly no Garcia, but I do know my way around a computer system, but at the moment I'm just looking up information that's public knowledge and not getting into any sites that are protected. I never even thought about the fact that my father might have other children after he abandoned his family and it was you that got me curious to see if my brothers and I do have any half siblings."

"Births are sometimes mentioned in the paper," Hotch said and Spencer nodded, "but usually only if it's somebody who's well known like an actress."

"Or a well known businessman or lawyer and that's what my father is," Spencer told his mate. "My father is a very good attorney and I can't see that stop being true just because he abandoned his family. In fact, it was in the paper 16 years ago when it was discovered that my father just abandoned his wife and three sons for no reason that was for public consumption, as we didn't exactly make my mother's schizophrenia public or father's treatment of his sons. There was no way that my father would have wanted it to get out that my mother had schizophrenia in the first place because he would have considered it a major embarrassment at the very least. Anyway, I know a lot of those papers have online versions and that they keep back copies and this is true of the Las Vegan Review-Journal and the Las Vegas Sun, which are the two major daily newspapers where I grew up. What I'm doing is checking back in their archive to see if there's any mention of children being born to William Reid. With the speed I read it shouldn't take me too long to check and if I don't discover anything there, there's other places I can look for the information."

"You know I wouldn't be surprised if your father lost some business when the news of him, abandoning his wife and three sons got out," Hotch said with a frown.

"Probably not much, because my father is not a family lawyer, he's more into getting criminals off with just a slap on the wrist and I can just see the criminals loving him."

"Yeah, you're right," Hotch finally agreed after he had frowned in thought. "So have you found anything?"

"No," Spencer admitted as he sped read several articles, "but then I didn't really expect to, but I thought I'd get it out of the way."

"So what are you going to do after you finish reading years of old newspapers? I mean I can check my email and I know my way around a computer system, but I'm nowhere near as competent as Garcia or even you are, especially when it comes to digging out information."

"Well, I thought I'd type in William Charles Reid, Las Vegas into a search engine and see what comes up," Spencer explained. "If I do that I will get every single thing that's ever been put on the internet with a combination of those three names and the city. That will likely be thousands of links and a lot of it won't have anything to do with my father, but hopefully, I'll find something."

"You could also try adding attorney or lawyer, as I doubt very much that there is another person by that name or a combination thereof in Las Vegas that's also in that profession and that should give you fewer choices."

"That's an excellent suggestion," Spencer told his mate gratefully kissing him on the cheek, "and you are right by the way, it should give me fewer links to search through."

Hotch fell silent and sat in a chair close to where his mate was busy with his laptop and picked up a book that he hadn't had a chance to read as yet, since he had been very busy.

"Ah huh!" Spencer exclaimed softly more than half an hour later.

"Find something?" asked Hotch looking up from his book

"Yes," Spencer said appearing to be rapidly reading something on his computer screen.

Hotch waited patiently knowing that Spencer would tell him as soon as he finished reading whatever it was.

Finally Spencer looked up, his expression unreadable.

"So what did you find?" Hotch asked gently.

"Well, it turns out that you were right and he does have a few children by another woman, although whether or not she's a werewolf we have no way of knowing, at least right now. It turns out that my father remarried again as soon as he learned of my mother's death, within just a month actually and they already have six children, one set of twins and the other quadruplets. Actually the twins are the age that tells me that the woman was involved with my father before mom's death, even if he had officially left her. She also has a set of quadruplets that would have been born when I was about 13, which means there's about six years age difference between the twins and the quads. "

"Werewolf pups usually aren't so far apart, but then we have a rather unusual situation here. The way I see it the twins were wanted, possibly to keep William Reid from breaking up with her and then the quads were likely an accident as most woman might have one pup or in this case two to stop a relationship from breaking or to force someone into marriage, but I can't see a woman having anymore until the man in question makes an honest woman of her, especially not someone like this Lynda Boyle who seems far to sensible to get pregnant a second time without some sort of guarantee."

"You do have a point," Spencer agreed.

"And also it's possible that the twins at least aren't William Reid's. For all you know this Lynda Boyle could've been married before and her husband could've died or she could be divorced."

"That's possible too," Spencer admitted, "I don't think it's too likely, but it's possible. The reason I don't think it's too likely is I can't see my father accepting another man's kids, considering how he treated his own. He just isn't that compassionate or know a single thing about how to deal with young children considering how he treated me and my brothers, which ought to prove that he was unwilling even to learn. In any case, unless this Lynda Boyle just happens to be my father's Lifemate, which I also consider extremely unlikely then my father was likely cheating on my mother before he left. I'm not saying it's impossible that this Lynda is my father's mate, just that it's a very low probability."

"Yes, I definitely agree with that," Hotch said with a nod. "The odds would be absolutely astronomical if he discovered his Lifemate shortly after he left your mother or even before."

"No, I'm sure we will find that this Lynda Boyle is nothing more than what my mother was a passing interest, where I'm sure he believes he's in love, which might even be true, though I consider it unlikely. Actually, I'm not sure that my father is actually capable of love, infatuation yes, but true love, at least the kind that lasts a lifetime, absolutely not. Also we have to consider the fact what Mack Burke thinks of one of our kind marrying a human, so she's likely a werewolf, unless of course, he isn't still in charge of the pack anymore, because there is no way that my father would dare defy a direct edict of the Alpha as he doesn't have a strong enough personality to do that."

"I'm sure there are other werewolves that are married to humans within the pack," Hotch said with a frown.

"There were back when me and my brothers were still part of the pack, but I can't see that still being true, unless of course, the werewolf and their human spouse either leave Las Vegas and join another pack or stay in Las Vegas, but not be part of any pack, except their own family or like my father the werewolf in question leaves their human spouse and their children. Those are the only three options I see unless Mack Burke is no longer in charge of the Las Vegas pack or our assumptions are wrong entirely. Of course, as far as I know the other pups that have one human parent, which was most of the pack back then actually, didn't have mothers or fathers that were sick like my mom was, so that could have possibly made a difference."

"Maybe it's not humans that Mack objected to, but the fact that your mother was so ill," Hotch suggested.

"That's very possible," Spencer admitted. "On the other hand, while my mother's illness wasn't exactly a secret it didn't really start manifesting until me and my brothers were about six and I know that Mack hated us before that, so in hindsight probably not, though it could certainly be part of the reason."

"Not liking werewolves marrying humans is just stupid," Hotch said with a frown, "as our species has been doing that as long as it's been in existence, which has been for thousands of years. A werewolf hating other werewolves for marrying humans...well, there's got to be some reason that Mack appears to hate humans in general or at least werewolves marrying them. I'll tell you one thing though, if he really does hate humans in general just as we believe, then he can't have much of a pack left, since most of them are likely to have a human parent or spouse."

"You know maybe we're overthinking things as there is a fairly simple motive that didn't occur to me before now, one of the oldest in the world actually and that's jealousy," Spencer suggested after moment. "It could be that Mack wanted my mother for himself and so hated her children by extension, because they weren't his."

"That's a more likely possibility then Burke just hating humans marrying other werewolves since it quite likely that at least one of his parents was human," said Hotch. "Of course, if it was the possibility we thought of originally then I don't see Burke lasting all these years as Alpha and he should have been overthrown."

"Well, we won't really know until we go to Las Vegas will we?" Spencer said. "I'm sure Burke believes me and my brothers are dead if he's still alive that is and hasn't been killed by the pack. As for my father, I'm sure he truly believes that me, Dylan and Trevyn have passed away a decade and a half ago. I know that my father didn't believe that the three of us would survive all these years on our own because he considered all of us to be weak willed and utterly useless even though we were only seven when he left. I mean you can't really tell how a child is going to turn out at seven years old, as it's partly a person's life experiences that make them who they are. I don't believe he was counting on me and my brothers forming our own pack where we helped each other survive day to day."

"Yes, you defied the odds and survived and I want your father to see that you did before I officially take his life or at least beat the shit out of him depending on circumstances. I want him to realize that he was wrong to leave you, your brothers and your mother. I realize that there are despicable people among werewolves just like they are among humans, but for one of them to be your father makes me feel more furious than I have ever been in my entire life. Now, I realize that's partly the bond that we share as Lifemates, but I would still be at least mostly this upset if I found out that say my brothers or sisters spouse was doing to them and their pups what your father did to his family."

"Yes, I can see that happening, since you love all your siblings, just like you love me. You know I've never heard of a family as large as yours, at least not with only one wife. Now if we were talking about in Africa, like say Egypt and if you were Muslim, then I could see having 28 siblings because Muslims are allowed four wives, but for one woman to have that many children even if it was all multiples, well..."

"Believe me, I know how unusual my family is due to the size," Hotch said dryly. "However, even though it didn't happen in your pack as far as you know and since werewolves tend to have large families anyway, some of the wolves in my pack had just as many children as my parents did. I know a couple who are Lifemates who had 40 pups before they finally stopped."

"40?" Spencer choked. "Are you serious?"

"Oh, yes, the couple in question married when they were 18 as they knew immediately when they met that they were Lifemates. Both of them went to the same college and got their education so that they could get good jobs, even though Eli comes from a very well-off family. Actually, his parents tried to write Eli out of their will because they didn't approve of his choice of wife. Eli's parents were a couple that didn't believe in Lifemates as like my parents their marriage was arranged and as the saying goes misery loves company. They wanted to arrange a marriage for him as soon as he graduated college, but Eli didn't want that even before he met his mate. Eli, and Isabeau met totally by accident, as they grew up in different packs and different cities, but as soon as they did they knew they were meant to be together and would be miserable without each other."

"So what happened with Eli's parents?" Spencer asked genuinely interested.

"Well, it turns out that Jane, Eli's mother, didn't really have control of the money, at least not when it came to writing somebody out of the family will as that privilege was left to her older sister Elisabet who refused to do what her sister wanted."

"So she was the executor then and the only one that could change it," Spencer summarized. "The parents money was likely held in trust for their children and there were likely certain conditions that would've had to be met in order for either Jane or Elisabet to be able to access more then a small portion of it."

"Yes, that's exactly right, as Elisabet's and Jane's parents left her in charge of the family money and while Eli's mother got a nice big chunk in the form of a trust fund she didn't have the power to write anybody out of it, not even her own son. Of course, she could prevent her son from getting her portion by writing him out of her will, however, while Jane's trust fund was quite significant and certainly enough to raise any pups she had, Elisabet had control of much more as she was considered more responsible then her younger sister."

"So from your story I take it that this Elisabet didn't disapprove of Eli's Lifemate, and in fact, I'm assuming he inherited quite a significant portion of the family money."

"Oh, yes, he did because unfortunately, and although it's uncommon where werewolves are concerned it turned out that Jane wasn't very fertile and had only five pups, all single births except for one set of twins and all the them are years apart, much more so then is normal. Usually only two years or less separate most werewolf pups from each other. Eli is the oldest and he has three sisters and one brother. Anyway the next oldest, which is a girl, is about six years younger and I know that there were several attempts to get pregnant and that she miscarried at least three times in those six years. The third child, is only about four years younger than the second and was the only other boy born to Jane. Nearly ten years after that a pair of twin girls was born, but since by this time Jane was over 40 it was decided that she shouldn't try to have anymore or least that's what the doctor recommended, because from what I know the birth of her twin daughters was extremely hard on her."

"Probably partly because of her age and also as you said she had trouble giving birth so I am not surprised that the doctor recommended that she not try to have anymore as people still die in childbirth every day and that includes werewolves," Spencer surmised. "Personally, I think it's karma considering she appears to be something like your mother, just wanting to make everybody as miserable as she is. Personally, I think that arranged marriages should be forgotten about entirely and not used in today's society as from all I know about them it's very rare that couples are actually in love or fall in love in the years they are married when a marriage is arranged, but then that's me. I think arranged marriages bring nothing but unhappiness and misery, which most people then feel the need to spread around, because as you said misery loves company. Some people just aren't strong enough to buck their parents expectations, even if they know they'll be miserable. So did your parents ever try to arrange a marriage for you, well your mother anyway, since your father was dead by the time you graduated college?" asked Spencer changing the subject.

"Yes, my mother wanted to arrange a marriage with another well-off, werewolf family with a daughter around the same age and before you ask her name was Haley. I told my mother that there was no way I was going to agree to an arranged marriage and that if I did marry it would be for love and for no other reason. Before I met you, I just never found anyone that I could truly fall in love with. I'm not saying I didn't date a little, because you would know I was lying and I promised never to do that, but none of those women clicked if you know what I mean."

"Well, since I never dated at all, I'm not sure precisely what you mean. I've heard that expression, but that's about it," Spencer said.

"It just means that you get along with the person you're dating from the start," Hotch explained. "That you feel a connection to that person almost like a Lifemate bond come to think of it, except that no actual bond exist like it does when one of our kind meets their Lifemate. Actually, it means the same thing as love at first sight, as sometimes even humans know when they have met the one that is meant for them, although that doesn't happen very often and is a much rarer event than it is with werewolves. Those are the types of marriages that last until one of the couple dies and are usually very happy throughout the marriage."

"Well, that when that happens it sounds like a pair of Lifemates to me at least from what I know of the subject, even if it's not called the same thing among the humans," Spencer said smiling.

"It is basically the same thing," Hotch agreed. "The Lifemates I know always end up being very happy together. I'm not saying that their relationship is perfect, because they still argue sometimes, just that they work things out and are willing to compromise more than some ordinary couples. There is also the bond between them, which allows them to know the others feelings, which is another reason that divorce is unknown and even the death of a pup due to being stillborn or because of some medical problem afterwards is not enough to separate them."

"They don't let their difference or their pride get in the way and they don't lose their common ground," Spencer said and Hotch nodded.

"Yes, and being able to feel your partner's emotions helps with that, as you know how they really feel even if you have trouble expressing it in words," Hotch said. "So what else have you discovered about your father and his family?"

"Well...not much really, except the newspaper did briefly talk about some of his more well-known cases and how he got some major criminals off with just slaps on the wrist. I can find out more if I wanted to do it illegally, but I'm not good enough to do that and not get caught. As I said I'm not half as good on the computer as Garcia seems to be and I'm sure she could find much more information, even without doing it illegally then I can and take less time doing it to. I found out what I wanted to know and that is I do have half siblings, at least four of them and probably six, so for now I'll just leave it alone, although I'll check back periodically to see if there's anything new."

"In that case, I think we need to spend at least the next couple of hours with our pups and then I plan on taking you to bed and fucking you senseless for what remains of the day and night before we have to go back to work tomorrow. I won't be surprised in the least if we catch a case first thing and that means being separated until we get back home at least at night."

Spencer blushed, but looked his mate straight in the eye and said boldly for him anyway, "I won't object to that I promise you, as you've got me addicted to having your cock in my body and I want you all time."

Hotch smirked at that beyond pleased that Spencer felt comfortable enough to say something like that to him considering that they had only been mated for a month at that point in time. Hotch had believed that it would take much longer before Spencer would be so bold as to talk like that, months at the least if not two or three years, but he seemed to be having a positive effect on his mate. Apparently, he had done a good enough job of giving Spencer confidence in their relationship that his mate felt comfortable enough talking like that. Well, so long as they were alone as he was sure that Spencer never would've said anything so bold in company, which was fine as he was a private person as well.

"Well, you're only 23, and therefore, your libido is still in overdrive and it will probably be for at least another five or six years probably until you are about 30. Of course, it varies from man to man, but I was around 30 when my libido finally calmed down to where I didn't have to masturbate as frequently or have sex if I was dating someone. I was never one for one night stands like some men are, so usually I just masturbated."

"I never imagined I would have an overactive libido, because I never imagined that I would ever find someone that I was sexually attracted to," said Spencer. "I always imagined myself something like a monk, as monks from centuries ago never dated and definitely never married. They spent their lives in quiet contemplation with their god and copied books that were always beautifully illustrated in those days. Monks had very little in the way of personal possessions, they gave to the poor and helped the sick and that was the extent of their human contact."

Hotch smirked at that for he could imagine Spencer enjoying that kind of life, except maybe for the isolation. "I can imagine you liking that kind of life, except perhaps, for the isolation. I can see you enjoying the solitude, but sooner or later you would need human contact. Not to mention I can just imagine you reading through whatever library the monks had in a very short space of time and I know I haven't known you very long but I have noticed that you need constant stimulation to keep your intelligent mind occupied."

"Alright, so I couldn't live a monk's life totally, but there're certain aspects of it that I really do find appealing," Spencer admitted with a blush not realizing that Aaron already knew him pretty well considering the short amount of time they had known each other.

"Most people enjoy quietness in order to think sometimes," Hotch said gently. "I certainly enjoy occasional quietness when I am alone with no pups, nobody, but myself. Now you are included in that as you know how to be quiet to and how to enjoy it. I think everybody needs time to just be by themselves and enjoy the silence, no family, or friends or even acquaintances, nobody and as busy as our life is, that doesn't happen very often, so when we do get some quiet time, well, I for one treasure it."

"Yes, I do too," Spencer agreed. "I remember going some days, where I did nothing except relax and read for enjoyment and not for my college classes or because I was learning new facts, but just because I enjoyed it."

"Well, it's nice to know we're similar in that way anyway," Hotch said with a satisfied smile.

"I know you had already noticed when I didn't talk much sometimes," Spencer said with a knowing grin.

"I had and I had already figured out the likely reason for it, but still it's nice to hear it confirmed nonetheless," Hotch said.

"Well, my quiet time is a way to relieve stress, from the job now, although when I was in college it was a way just to be without having to put up with the way other college students picking on me and my brothers, because we were so much younger than they were. Actually, the three of us put up with a lot of nasty remarks while we were in classes or in the hallway going to class, but once we left to go back to Leo and Gertie's place it was my way to just forget about those remarks. Sometimes though, I went on a long run in the forest in my wolf form, even when it wasn't the full moon and some of the pack in that area did the same thing, so usually I had company when I wanted to go for a run. I didn't really mind it, since I got along well with most of the pack."

"And where does sex fit into that?" Hotch asked with a smirk already sure he knew the answer, although he still wanted to hear it from his mate's mouth.

"I have found in the last month that having sex with you is a great stress reliever and I feel absolutely boneless, sated and satisfied by the time you're done having your way with me. I love the feeling of having your cock in my body and I know I was afraid of your Knot that first time, but now I enjoy the sensation of having you locked inside me," Spencer said blushing a brilliant red, all the way to the tips of his ears.

"You never have to be embarrassed about admitting things like that to me because you know I'll never tell anyone," Hotch soothed, even as he came to sit beside his mate on the couch immediately pulling him onto his lap, laptop and all.

"I know," Spencer said quietly, even as he buried his head into the side of Hotch's neck, inhaling his mouthwatering scent. "I've always embarrassed easily I'm afraid, and I don't see that changing anytime soon, if ever."

"Well, most Omegas I know embarrass rather easily," Hotch admitted. "It seems to go along with their usually quiet and gentle personalities. Every human or werewolf for that matter is different and there's nothing wrong with getting embarrassed rather easily."

"It's only when we talk about stuff like that, that I get embarrassed so easily," said Spencer. "I know I can trust you or I never would have answered your question so boldly or honestly."

"Believe me, I was very pleased with your answer, because although while I knew intellectually that you enjoyed having sex with me just as much as I do with you it's still nice to hear it verbally confirmed, once in awhile," Hotch told him kissing his mate on the nape of the neck causing Spencer to purr in pleasure.

"I'll make sure I say it more often because I do enjoy the sex, even if I'm sore a lot of the time, which disappears in a few hours luckily," Spencer promised. "That's one of the reasons I ask you to lock me, so often because I know the soreness will disappear relatively quickly instead of me being sore for days, if I was human."

"I had already figured that out for myself thanks," Hotch smirked, but then gave his mate a tender kiss on the top of his head. "Believe me, if you were a bitch, you would be pregnant with a whole litter of pups, that I promise you, but since it goes against genetics with us being the same-sex we can just enjoy ourselves without us having to worry about me getting you pregnant and thanks to the fact that we work for the government we don't even have to worry about STDs, since we have to have a physical once a year, as being a werewolf doesn't prevent every human or dog disease just a lot of them."

"As I told you back after we had only known each other a week I would love to have pups with you, but that's just not genetically possible as you said, which is a shame."

"It is, but unfortunately, we just weren't made that way," Hotch said with a philosophical shrug. "I suppose it's just as well considering that we have eight pups to raise as it is and we also have extremely busy careers so we don't have much time to think about such things anyway, still, it's something that I really would have liked."

"Me too," Spencer agreed as he cuddled into Hotch's chest, "me too."

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

"Spencer, there's something I've been meaning to mention to you that we both need to do together," Hotch said not exactly sure how to bring up the fact that the two of them needed to mark their territory and what this meant was the two of them transformed into their wolf forms and peed on the doorstep and under each window and on various trees. His property, was out of the city limits and although there were other houses they weren't close together like they were in the city. Still they were close enough that Hotch always had to be careful marking his front door and under the windows on the same side of the house and be sure nobody was observing him so he usually did it late at night whenever his neighbors were likely to be in bed. Luckily, in the dark he was going to be mistaken for a large dog that was just marking his territory and so no one so far had commented on seeing something out of the ordinary.

"What's that?" Spencer asked, as he looked up from where he was reading a book with his legs all stretched out in front of him.

"Well," Hotch hedged and Spencer looked at him knowing that his mate wasn't one to hesitate in telling him something, so he knew he wasn't going to like it as Aaron usually just spit out what he was thinking.

"You know that in several ways we're just like wolves," Hotch said hoping that Spencer would figure it out on his own so he wouldn't have to have to say the words, although he would if he had to.

"Yyyyeeeessss," Spencer said drawing out the word wondering where his mate was going with this.

"Well, do you know how a wolf marks his territory?" asked Hotch.

"Well," Spencer said thoughtfully, "they pee on trees and other vegetation... Oh, no, you don't mean what I think you do, do you," Spencer said suddenly catching onto what Aaron was trying to imply. "You aren't trying to say that we need to mark our territory in that way."

"I am," Hotch admitted glad that his mate had caught on so fast, but then he should've expected nothing less, considering how intelligent Dr. Spencer Reid was. "We both should've been doing it, for the last few months, ever since we got together actually, but what was more important was getting to know each other and since you weren't raised in a pack it just never occurred to you that we also mark our territory, which is understandable. This is one of the reasons I bought a house outside the city, but that still isn't too far away from work just an hour or so. I've been doing it myself when you've been in the shower or doing something else, but you need to do it to or other wolves won't know that I am mated and therefore, off the market and it'll be like there's a single werewolf living here instead of two. Trust me, that can cause numerous problems, even if it might not."

Spencer made a face, but knew that regular wolves marked their territory by peeing and he should have realized sooner that werewolves would do the same to let other wolves know that a particular territory was taken. The human in him was revolted and protested that he was civilized and he didn't go peeing out in the open on trees, plants and the ground and that it wasn't sanitary besides. In this case though, the Omega wolf in him trumped the human and it was telling him that this was the right thing to do and it wouldn't want other wolves to think that Aaron was single and trying to take his mate away from him when it could've easily been prevented. It wasn't that he didn't know that Aaron couldn't handle himself and any female advances, but it was just better to nip any problems in the bud.

"I understand why you didn't tell me sooner, since I might have being a lot more adverse to the idea if you had told me any earlier," Spencer said.

"You're not going to argue about it?" asked Hotch in astonishment. "I figured since you were raised basically as a human that you would have human sensibilities."

"Oh, I do, because the human in me is disgusted at the very idea of peeing out in the open on a tree or the ground, however, the Omega in me is telling me that you are correct and this is just the natural way of things. If you hadn't spent so much time with me getting me to trust my inner wolf more, I know I'd be more against the idea then I am so all your tutoring in the stuff I should have learned when I was younger has not been in vain."

"Well, good," Hotch said relieved.

"So how often do you mark your territory?" Spencer asked curiously

"How often do we do we it?" Hotch corrected and Spencer nodded accepting the mild rebuke with good grace. "At least every other week, but if it rains, especially if it's a lot it needs to be done more often because the rain washes the scent away."

"That makes sense," Spencer admitted quietly putting his book aside. "We'll have to do that then as I'm assuming that's why you're mentioning it now."

"Well, yes, the back part of the house which faces the woods can be done now, but as for the front even though the neighbors are not too close together I usually do late at night so I can be mistaken for a dog if any of the neighbors are still up at one or two o'clock in the morning."

"So you pee on various trees in the backyard to mark your territory," Spencer said.

"Also under each window the doorsteps both front and back. Any point of entrance, is peed on either on the ground outside or on the wall under it," Hotch explained. "Doing this makes other wolves understand that this house is protected and if you are an enemy not to enter unless you want to meet your death or at least be in the fight of your life, although friends are always welcome. I'm sure you know that real wolves brains automatically translate what the smell of the pee means and know to stay away if they don't want a brutal lesson unless you are a friend or don't mean any harm and just want to meet the occupants of the house."

"So you're saying our brains do the same thing, automatically translate what the smell of the pee means," Spencer said.

"Yes, and a wolf can tell what rank another wolf is just from the smell of their pee depending on how strong or weak it is, also the age and the gender. I'll start teaching you how to differentiate between the differences in pee. You can tell from a wolf's pee whether its a young pup and what family they belongs to or a teenager or someone who's older or elderly. A young pup not yet old enough to be out in his own will smell just a little bit like his parents since they're together almost all the time. My sons and daughters for instance if you take time to really notice they smell just a little bit like me and now like you since you spend so much time with them."

"Well, I knew a real wolf's nose was that sensitive, but I had no idea that our noses were that sensitive at least in our human forms," Spencer said fascinated in spite of himself.

"Yes, we keep a lot of our wolfish attributes even in human form," Hotch admitted. "I'm sure you've noticed that our hearing is keener then a normal human even in these forms, well, so is our sense of smell. I'm surprised you haven't noticed, but I suppose if you grew up with it and weren't aware that certain wolfish attributes carry over to your human form and that your sense of smell is one of those that does, then isn't likely it would occur to you."

"Well, I suppose we had better get it over with," Spencer sighed and rose from where he was sitting.

"Don't think of it is such a inconvenience and a chore," Hotch told Spencer with a little grin, as he noticed the lines of disgust and revulsion in every line of his mate's body.

"You might think my reaction is amusing," Spencer told an with a rather disgusted expression. "If you say this is necessary than it is, but the human in me is absolutely revolted at what I am about to do, even if the wolf in me knows it's right and to stop other wolves from invading our territory. I know if I had been raised in a pack I would consider doing this perfectly natural, but since I wasn't..."

"I'm sorry I thought it was amusing," Hotch apologized sincerely. "You're right, if you had been raised in a pack this would be perfectly natural to you. You wouldn't be disgusted because as a pup your wolfish instincts would have been gently reinforced until it was totally natural. However, if you do it often enough over the next few months it will start to seem just as natural to you now as it should have been all along as the Omega wolf within you takes over temporarily, so that pretty soon you won't think anything of marking your territory as you will just do it, as if it's the most natural thing in the world because really it is."

"Yes, it is natural for a real wolf to mark their territory, Omega or not," Spencer admitted, as he started to remove his clothes slowly.

"And the same is true for our kind, just think of yourself as a real wolf in this case if that helps, because that's exactly what you are when you're in your wolf form and marking your territory which is a perfectly ordinary thing for a real wolf to do," Hotch suggested.

"I'll try," Spencer said quietly. "I know this is necessary, but still part of me is totally revolted, although as you suggested that will probably fade in a few months if I do it often enough."

"I'm proud of you for being able to put aside your revulsion and disgust to do this," Hotch praised his mate sincerely, "especially since you weren't raised in the ways of our kind due to circumstances that were beyond your control."

"Well, I definitely wouldn't want some female werewolf, like Elin thinking you were available just because it was only your scent that was marking the area," Spencer said. "Don't think I haven't noticed how some of the female wolves of the pack keep eyeing you as if you're a piece of meat, even though they've never done anything about it since you're officially off the market and they aren't stupid, but that doesn't stop them from looking. Who knows what will happen if some stranger comes into town if she comes across our territory and catches the scent of another wolf and gets curious. If my scent is there as well that will tell whoever it is that you're not single and therefore, you're untouchable in that way."

"Protecting your property?" Hotch asked amused.

"You got that right," Spencer said firmly looking straight into his mate's eyes. "You're mine, just as I am yours and I will not have some amorous female or even another male try to take you from me. If me adding my scent to yours will prevent that from happening then I'm willing to do it."

"I am yours," Hotch told him gently, but with a tender look in his eyes. "I hope you know that deep in your heart and not just in your head."

"I do," Spencer told Aaron gently kissing him on the lips. "I have no doubt of the fact that you love me and you know I love you with every atom of my being."

"Good," Hotch said relieved and finished getting undressed. "Let's get this done and once we get back I plan on having my wicked way with you," Hotch added with the wicked gleam in his dark eyes.

Spencer rolled his eyes and said, "You'll just use any reason to fuck me senseless, won't you?"

"Of course I will," Hotch teased him. "I am still young and healthy, especially for a werewolf with a very active libido. Besides, you are absolutely irresistible."

Spencer sighed, but said nothing more really because he couldn't honestly find a reason to object to the fact that Aaron used any excuse to make love to him, since he had never been so desired before by anybody else and so he liked to it have it reaffirmed as often as possible that Aaron truly did love him and couldn't live without him.

"Let's do this," Spencer said finally transforming, which was much more smooth than it had used to be, but then he been getting a lot of practice thanks to Aaron and headed straight for the doggie door.

Hotch watched his mate admiring him for a moment, until he disappeared and then did the same following his mate out the doggie door that had been installed in the kitchen.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	11. Chapter 11

Part 11

One year, three months later

Spencer and Hotch were slowly letting the team know about their relationship, but subtly. It had been mutually decided that a year was more than enough time for the two of them to fall in love with each other and so here it was three months into their second year as a happily mated couple and the two of them were subtly letting the team know that they were in a relationship. By subtly, that meant, that Hotch brought Spencer some coffee along with his own, or gently touched him on the elbow or the shoulder. It was nothing obvious, but the team which had added Elle in the last six months were not stupid and both Spencer and Hotch had caught one of them staring at the two of them more than once with questioning looks on their faces.

It was about time, that the team started to pick up on the subtle little clues that both he and Spencer were leaving, Hotch smirked inwardly. They should've figured it out within the first month instead it'd taken them nearly 3 ½, so they needed to work on their profiling skills.

Of course, Hotch also realized that the team hadn't really been looking for it, because of the way relationships between teammates was at least strongly discouraged. Relationships weren't forbidden, but most people who worked on the same team did not get involved with each other, but then there were exceptions to every rule, as there was no way that he and Spencer could not have a relationship because of the fact that they were Lifemates.

As he had told Spencer over a year ago, normally, he never would have considered getting involved with one of the team considering that he was the boss to all of them except Gideon.

"Hotch, man, what's going on between you and Reid?" asked Morgan suddenly staring at the two of them.

Gideon looked up from where he was looking over the case file for their current unsub as they were headed to Alaska, Anchorage to be precise.

"You know I've noticed some things happening between you two…" Gideon began and then paused, "...but I figured I was just reading too much into things."

"I've noticed some things too," JJ piped up. "It's been obvious to me for the last two and a half months at least that Hotch and Spence were in a relationship, but since it was apparent they were keeping it to themselves I never said anything."

"Are you telling me that two of you are sexually involved?" asked Morgan in astonishment.

"Yes," Hotch answered shortly not bothering to elaborate knowing that this was his show, although Spencer would confirm whatever he said.

"How long has this been going on?" Gideon demanded angrily.

"Three months," Spencer answered before Hotch could.

"And we are just now finding out about it?" Morgan demanded.

"Morgan, you might go bragging about the relationships you've been in, but I'm not like that and Spencer definitely isn't," Hotch told Morgan calmly with a raised eyebrow. "We are both very private people when it comes to our personal lives. Oh, we knew that the team would figure it out eventually, although we expected you to figure it out after the first month like JJ did."

"Well, excuse me, if I wasn't expecting Reid to get involved with my boss," Morgan said glaring at Hotch fiercely.

"How could you?" Gideon demanded of Hotch angrily, "Reid's only 24 for God sakes."

"Reid is old enough to know what he wants," Hotch said glaring at Gideon now. "Reid is not a child that has no experience in the world. He is a young man that is doing a very dangerous job and I think that gives him the right to make his own decisions."

Finally Gideon looked away for even he couldn't stand up to the Aaron Hotchner glare for very long, besides, he knew Hotch was right and that Reid was a grown man.

"What do you have to say about this for Reid?" asked Morgan looking at his friend expectantly.

"Why do I have to say anything when I thought Aaron was doing to very good job of defending our relationship, which is nobodies business except ours," Reid answered. "Hotch was right when he said that I'm a grown man and more than capable of making my own decisions. Hotch and I noticed that we were attracted to each other six months ago, but we didn't do anything about it for over three as I for one figured it was just a crush and that it would fade over time, but it just kept getting worse and worse until finally I realized that it just wasn't a crush anymore and that I was in love with him. Still, I didn't say anything for weeks, figuring that my feelings would never be returned and in that I was wrong."

"It was me that approached him and offered to take him out for dinner about three months ago as I said," said Hotch calmly.

"I remember that," Elle who had been quiet up until now mumbled looking thoughtful. "I was just leaving for the day when Hotch came out of his office and Reid was just getting his things ready to leave to. I remember being surprised that Hotch didn't head for the elevator, but to Reid's desk where he was just gathering his messenger bag. I remember quite clearly that Reid had just swung the strap over his shoulder and was ready to head to the elevator when Hotch calmly asked him out to dinner. I remember that Reid looked rather surprised at the offer, but he nodded and the two of them left together."

Hotch and Spencer looked at each other when they were sure the others attention were occupied. That little encounter had been planned in advance and apparently the two of them had pulled it off for Elle wasn't suspicious at all that the encounter had been staged, although the two of them had indeed gone out to dinner it just wasn't the beginning of their relationship like the team now believed, so it wasn't really a lie.

"Yes, that was the beginning of our relationship," Spencer said calmly. Spencer knew that this wasn't true, but Aaron had been right when he said they couldn't let the team know they had a relationship ever since day one. Spencer had gotten much better at telling little white lies in the last year and he thought of this as practicing lines for a play, which was how he was able to pull it off. Apparently, he was more of an actor then he had ever believed he was, because that's exactly what he and Aaron were doing and that was acting out a part and so far no one seemed suspicious.

"Just so you know I had been denying my feelings for months as told myself that I couldn't get involved in a relationship with one of my teammates, but finally I gave up and did what I'd been wanting to do for several months already and that was ask Spencer out on a date." Aaron added.

"We just clicked from the first," Spencer said using the expression that Hotch had explained to him over a year ago now. "We both enjoyed ourselves so much that we agreed to do it again when we were free and it just went on from there. Now three months in, I won't willingly be parted from him unless he is the one that decides to end it for whatever reason, but it is our decision one way or the other and no one else's."

"But Spencer, how can you know you're in love when you've never been in a relationship as far as I know," Gideon protested. "I mean you don't have any experience in that area."

Spencer shrugged nonchalantly and told Gideon with fire in his eyes, "You're right that I don't have any experience in that area, but I do know what love is and I know what I feel and what Aaron feels and that's all there is to it. If we break up, then as I said it will be Aaron's decision, because I'm not going anywhere until he kicks me out."

"Which will never happen," Hotch barked in a very authoritative voice, also glaring at Gideon.

"Gideon," JJ said soothingly, "you have to realize that Spence here would never fall in love with someone his own age or even close to his age as most of them are too immature and shallow to hold his interest. He is one of the most brilliant young people of his generation, and most people his age just can't match his maturity or his intelligence. There is no way that he would be interested, in most people no matter the sex that you would consider appropriate because they would be closer in age then Hotch is."

"JJ, is of course, correct, most of the females I went to college with wouldn't hold my interest for more than 10 minutes if that. I'm not saying they weren't intelligent, just very immature and shallow, focused on their studies, the way they dressed or looked, boys, girls and who was dating who, all subjects I have absolutely no interest in. Besides, those college girls didn't give me on my brothers a second look or even a first because of how young we were and none of us were interested in dating at that time anyway. In any case, my point is, that now, that all of you know about mine and Aaron's relationship, it's not your right to interfere and tell Hotch that he shouldn't see me as anything more then a coworker or a friend. That I don't know what my feelings are, because I'm too young, which is a load of crap that might work on someone else, but not me. Falling in love doesn't really have a specific age when it happens as it either does or doesn't."

The rest of the team blinked when Reid actually cussed at it meant he was extremely annoyed since he usually never said a bad word and they all had to admit he had a right to be, even Morgan.

"But shouldn't you at least try to date a woman or two, before making that kind of decision?" Morgan protested, which caused Gideon's jaw to snap closed as he had been about to say essentially the same thing.

"Why?" asked Spencer turning his penetrating golden brown eyes towards the man he now considered a brother actually causing Morgan to look away. "Give me three good reason why I should give up what I have found with Aaron just to satisfy your requirements? Not everybody is the same, as some people find the one that they are meant to be with without dating at all like I did, others search their whole lives for the one they know is out there that is meant for them. Others don't care one way or the other and just have one relationship after another never settling down. There is no right way to find someone you want to spend the rest of your life with, so why should I bother to date anyone else when Aaron and I know what our feelings for each other are and that they are not likely to change."

"Wow! I've never heard you sound so philosophical," Elle said.

"You've only known me for a few months," Spencer reminded Elle with half a grin. "You can't learn everything about someone in that short amount of time and the rest of you have only known me for a little over a year. Yes, we are close since we work so closely together, but that doesn't mean we know everything there is to know about each other."

"But you're his boss," Gideon told Hotch butting into the conversation, "Not to mention at least a decade older than he is and the same-sex."

"I thought we had already gotten the matter of our age differences out of the way," Spencer said giving Gideon a disappointed look, which hurt the older man deeply, although deep down he knew he deserved it. "I know what your real objection is and that is Aaron and I are the same-sex. That's your real objection to our relationship and it doesn't have anything to do with our age gap at all or the fact that he's my boss. As for Morgan, his objection is he sees me as someone that is completely pure and innocent. I know he sees me as a younger brother and that he's just trying to protect me, but still my and Aaron's relationship is none of his business since I am not a child who needs to be told that he shouldn't be in a relationship with someone much older or the same-sex."

Morgan blushed, for Reid was right on what he had been thinking.

"I am not an innocent Morgan," Reid told his friend gently, but firmly, which was a tone that the team had hardly ever heard from their youngest member. "If you knew what my life had been like before you met me you would consider me very worldly. I am not some sexless figure, that has no desires or needs of his own."

"I don't think of you like that," Morgan protested blushing for the second time in five minutes.

"Oh, yes, you do," JJ said teasingly, as she saw Morgan's reaction to Spencer's statement

"Do you really?" Elle said laughing at the big black man. "That's in no way realistic, Morgan."

"All of you are just going to have to accept that Spencer and I are in a relationship and if we want to end it then we will, although neither one of us considers that a likely possibility," Hotch said.

There is no way in hell I will ever willingly be parted from Spencer for any reason, Hotch added in his thoughts. I'll quit first and I know that Spencer feels the same. The two of them had gotten much closer on the last year and Spencer had really seemed to come into his own, as if he finally knew his place in the world.

"What do your brothers have to say about this?" Gideon demanded of his protégé. "Or have you not told them that you're in a relationship with another man that is at least a decade older than you are?"

"For your information Gideon," Spencer said staring at his mentor coldly causing Gideon's insides to squirm guiltily, as he had never heard Reid use that tone or use that look that was cold enough to form icicles on his nose and other body parts. In fact, he hadn't been aware that Reid was even capable of such a look since he was usually so quiet and self-contained, "Not that it's any of your business, but both Dylan and Trev approve. Both of them just like me are going to have trouble finding a partner no matter the sex, as it's likely that whoever they settle down with if they ever do, will likely be older because we are all extremely intelligent and therefore, most people our age are not going to appeal to them anymore than they did to me and just so you know I'm not going to break up with Aaron just to make you or anybody else happy, you can either accept that or not it matters not me."

"Doesn't our friendship means anything to you?" asked JJ looking distraught.

"Of course, it does, JJ. Your friendship has become one of the cornerstones of my life," Spencer told his sister in all but blood gently. "You are starting to be the sister I never had just as Morgan is another brother. However, while I know that losing any of your friendships would hurt me, losing Aaron as anything other than a coworker would likely destroy me. I would quit and find another job before I allowed that to happen, even though I love working at the BAU, but if it was the only way to keep my relationship with Aaron intact then I would do it."

"And I would likely quit right after he did," Hotch added, "as our relationship is that important to us. Really I don't need to work for monetary reasons, as my parents left me enough to live the rest of my life. I come from a very wealthy family, just so you know and I would never have to work a day in my life if I didn't need something to do, as I don't do well with too much relaxation time. However, if both of us quit we could perhaps, do some traveling with our children."

Hotch made sure to say children instead of pups since none of the people present were werewolves.

"Children?" Gideon asked sharply.

"You've never met them, although you have heard me mention them from time to time, my eight half siblings that I adopted about five years ago. They now consider Spencer, just as much a part of the family as I am or Maddy and Lisa who are their nannies are. They are six now just so you know and they absolutely adore Spencer."

"Ah, yes, I had forgotten that your mother died giving birth to them so they became your responsibility," Gideon said calming down.

"Were you thinking that Spencer and I had them naturally?" Hotch said with a smirk. "Come on, Gideon we're still both male and biology is against us for that to happen."

"Besides, you would have known if I was pregnant or not, by this time," Reid added.

The rest of the team chuckled at this while Gideon blushed, which was not something he did often, but he realized exactly how he had sounded when he had said what he had. "No, I was thinking that you might had adopted a couple and not told anybody."

"We've only been together for three months, Gideon," Spencer told his mentor with a smile. "That might be something that Aaron and I want to do in the future, but not right now, while our relationship is still so new. Besides, the adoption process takes time and there's no guarantees that we would get a child to raise as we have several strikes against us already."

"The fact, that you are both male, even though that shouldn't matter in what is the 21st century, but we all know it does to some people," Elle said.

"The fact, that you work all the time with very few days off where there isn't at least a chance o being called in," JJ added. "Yes, I can definitely see where somebody might decide that neither one of you is good parent material, even though Hotch is already raising his eight siblings with lots of help."

"And you forgot to mention that the people in charge of adoption might decide that we already have too many children to look after and that we don't need anymore," Hotch said, "so as Spencer said there are already several strikes against us adopting if we decide to go that route in a year or two."

"So I take it that your relationship is likely a permanent one," Morgan said still looking a little upset.

"Yes," both Hotch and Spencer answered at the same time with no uncertainty in their tones.

"I for one never would have risked getting involved with my boss if I wasn't sure of my feelings, as I wouldn't want to risk losing the job I have come to love," Spencer said.

"What about the no fraternization rule," Gideon mentioned, grasping at straws to find a way to break up Hotch's and Spencer's relationship, though he knew very deep down that was impossible, since both had already said they'd quit before they would allow that to happen and he knew that both were serious about that. Gideon knew that both were so serious about their relationship that they'd be willing to quit a job they loved just to stay together, spoke of a commitment to each other that wasn't often found anymore.

"And I never would have risked getting involved with my subordinate if I wasn't sure of mine," Hotch added. "As for the no fraternization rule that you brought up Gideon, it's not precisely a career breaker. Relationships within the same unit or team are strongly discouraged, but they are not set in stone, as you well know. I have no intention of informing Strauss of my and Spencer's relationship, since it's none of her business, because we all know that she's vindictive enough to separate the two of us, just for the hell of it and because she's a bitch."

None of the team not even Gideon disagreed with that statement although Gideon did give Hotch a rather disapproving look for his language, which caused the other man to look back dispassionately not really caring, what the older man thought of him.

"I for one think it's a good thing," JJ told the others. "Whether you admit it or not you all know that Spence would never get involved with someone even close to his own age unless they were exceptional and those kind of people are not exactly thick on the ground. Personally, I think Spencer and Hotch are a good match for each other as both are intelligent, compassionate, kind, believe in justice and from what I know share many similar interests, personality traits and views. The age difference or the fact that they are the same-sex might bother some people, but it doesn't bother me at all, because older and younger people get together all the time in what is now 21st century and two men being in a sexual relationship is not at all uncommon in this day and age. So what if both of them are men? Two men being together might not have been accepted centuries ago when the human race wasn't his numerous as it is now, but in today's society, although some people might not approve, why does it really matter? Considering the billions of humans our race isn't going to be dying out anytime soon, unless of course, we have some kind of nuclear disaster. In any case, they're both grown men and as Spencer has been telling all of you they both have a right to make their own decisions."

"There is also one thing that none of you have considered before now," Elle piped up.

Everybody turned to look at their newest member and she continued with barely a pause. "The two of them have been together for three months and we are just now finding out about their relationship, which means that neither one of them has trouble acting professionally on the job, which could have put a kerfuffle in their still new relationship if they couldn't pull that off. They are apparently able to put their relationship on hold when they need to and I for one, just like JJ, don't have a problem with it."

Everybody fell silent as they thought about that as that was one thing they had not yet thought of, but Ellie was indeed right, as the only reason they had a realized that their two male teammates were in a relationship was because they were good at picking up on subtle clues as they were observant, but anybody who wasn't would never know that they were anything other than coworkers or friends as their relationship wasn't obvious unless you were paying attention.

Everybody was sure that their relationship was different when they were not working and had privacy, but when they were around other people they didn't make it obvious that they were involved romantically.

"Personally, I think if they're willing to put up with all the crap they're going to get it when other people find out that they are involved in that way then more power to them," JJ said.

"Thank you, JJ, thank you Elle," Spencer said smiling at the the two women. Both he and Aaron had already known that it would likely be the three woman on the team that would be the most accepting, while the other two male team members would both disapprove, but for different reasons. They had known that Morgan would likely disapprove of the relationship not because of the fact that they were both men, but because he considered Reid a little brother and wanted to protect him. As for Gideon however, Spencer had discovered that Aaron had been right and the older man was definitely against same-sex relationships and would object to their relationship on that basis, not that he had really doubted it for his mate had known and worked with Jason Gideon for years after all.

"Alright, fine," Morgan gave in. "As long as Reid is happy I suppose I can't really object too much."

"Trust me, Morgan I'm very happy, with Aaron and I don't see that changing anytime soon or ever actually. When we are not working we go out to lunch or dinner a lot of days, we spend time with Aaron's children by taking them to the park or some other place that is kid friendly. Being with Aaron has given me a new lease on life as before all I did for fun was read and absorb information and occasionally watch TV."

"And when we want time alone Lisa and Maddy are more than happy to look after the children for us," Hotch added smirking in Spencer's direction.

Spencer blushed right on cue and glared at Hotch for a second, before he gave in and laughed.

Gideon watched this and realized that Hotch's and Reid's relationship was likely here to stay for he had never seen his protégé laugh so freely, since he was usually always serious, so in that way Hotch had been good for him.

"What about your families what do they have to say about this?" Gideon asked. "I don't mean your brothers Spencer I meant your parents."

Reid looked at Gideon for a moment but then decided to give him a completely honest answer. "My mother committed suicide when me, Trev and Dylan were 18 and even if she was still alive she wouldn't care so long as I was happy. As for my father I don't care one way or the other what he thinks since he abandoned his wife and his sons when we were just seven."

"I'm sorry," Gideon apologized sincerely feeling ashamed of himself for bringing up such painful memories.

Hotch glared at Gideon for a moment for upsetting his lover, but then barked, "My parents are also dead. You already know about my mother and how she died six years ago giving birth to the children I now consider mine, instead of just my half siblings and as for my father he died years ago while I was still in college. If he were still alive though he definitely wouldn't approve, but I don't give a flying rat's ass if he would have or not since we weren't exactly close. Really, both Spencer and I come from broken homes as neither one of our childhoods was exactly idyllic and that's all I'm going to say on the subject. As for my siblings, I've been keeping in contact with them over email and although they were rather surprised they still approved so long as I am happy."

Hotch didn't bother to mention the fact that he had talked to his siblings over the phone and told them about finding his Lifemate and how all 28 of them had been happy for him and how they couldn't wait to meet Spencer sometime soon.

"And that's more than can be said for certain members of the team," Hotch added, not mentioning any specific names, but everybody knew who he meant, since Gideon was the only one that was still objecting to their relationship, as even Morgan had finally come around. "Personally, I don't care what you think of me Gideon, but Spencer is your protégé and supposedly like a son to you and yet you keep being so stubborn. All that should matter is he is happy and he's already told you he is and yet you refuse to accept it. If you keep this up you are going to force him to choose between a man he considers more of a father than his own ever was or his relationship with me and I for one have no doubt which one he will choose."

"You're that confident are you?" Gideon asked.

"About mine and Spencer's relationship?" Hotch asked. "Absolutely! I have a right to be as he has made his feelings for me plain, just as I have for him."

"Aaron is right," Spencer said quietly staring at Gideon intently. "If I'm forced to make a choice there is no doubt in my mind about, which one I would choose. Please don't force me to make that choice."

Gideon slumped down in his plane seat, pinching the bridge of his nose at his protégé's words and knew that he was going to have to find some way to get over his prejudice of same-sex couples if only not to lose the young man that he had come to consider a son.

"I'll try," Gideon said. "I don't approve of your relationship, but I know that's obvious. On the other hand, you are both adults and do have a right to decide for yourselves. Just try not to display it in front of me."

"We won't," Reid said immediately and Hotch nodded. "We have been keeping it to ourselves for three months now, I don't see why that should change just because the team now knows."

Actually, they had been keeping their relationship extremely low-key for more than a year, but again the team didn't need to know that.

"You know Garcia is going to fuss at us for figuring out a about your relationship and her not being present," Morgan smirked, still not happy, but changing the subject anyway.

"She'll get over it," Hotch said unconcerned. "You're welcome to repeat everything that was said, although I for one would've liked to keep our relationship private instead of you guys finding out, but both Spencer and I knew that was unlikely, since we do work with a bunch of profilers."

This statement was partly true, but then again it partly wasn't. It was partly true, because both he and Spencer would have liked to keep their relationship private. On the other hand, they also wanted to be able to share a hotel room when they were out of town so that had been the deciding factor in subtly revealing their relationship and there was also the fact that Spencer could now let his apartment go as there was no point of him wasting money renting it when he was hardly ever there. Just because Spencer made plenty of money and he had plenty himself there was no reason to throw great amounts of it down the drain as apartments in Virginia or Washington weren't exactly cheap. Besides, the money that Spencer would save in a year could be put to other uses.

"However, now that our relationship is out in the open Spencer and I will be sharing a hotel room from now on and Gideon you can bunk with Morgan or get your own room," said Hotch his tone of voice telling everybody that he would have it no other way.

"I suppose there is no point arguing," Gideon said giving in.

"No, there isn't," Hotch told him almost cheerfully. "Really, now that our relationship is out in the open there is no point of us being separated in two different hotel rooms when are we can be together. I've started to have trouble sleeping without Spencer there beside me, as I've gotten used to his presence very quickly and I can't really say that about any of the women I dated in the past."

"I have to agree and that's why I have been so tired whenever we're my case, because I have trouble sleeping without Aaron," Spencer admitted. "He has quickly become one of the cornerstones of my life while the team is the second and my brothers the third."

"And what are you going to do if you and Hotch ever break up?" Morgan asked.

"As I said earlier I know what my feelings are and so the likelihood of our relationship ending, well, the odds are so low that I won't even bother to calculate them," Reid answered immediately. "Sometimes you just get lucky and find the person that you are meant to be with. Now, while normally, I'm not one to believe in such a nebulous force as luck I know it was indeed my lucky day when Aaron and I discovered that we both felt the same about each other and I wouldn't change a thing."

"If you're talking as if you believe that luck exists, it must be serious," Morgan joked a little shakily.

Hotch who had been listening to every word that his mate spoke, couldn't help but display his feelings and so he subtly grasped Spencer's hand from where the two of them were sitting side by side and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Spencer immediately returned the squeeze to let Hotch know that his message had been received but his eyes never strayed from where he was looking at his other teammates and Gideon in particular.

Hotch didn't say a word as he concentrated on feeling Spencer's emotions and sending him the same. A couple who were Lifemates could sense each others emotions after being together for awhile and when they had been together for at least a year, they could send each other what they were feeling and so Hotch sent Spencer his pride at how he had handled the team and Reid gave Hotch's hand another squeeze in acknowledgment telling him that his message had been received and was appreciated.

The plane was silent for a few minutes as each member of the team got lost in their own thoughts, but finally JJ asked her friend, "So are you going to move into Hotch's place now?"

"Yes," Spencer answered immediately. "I hardly ever spend any time over at my apartment anyway and now that our relationship is known there's no point of me maintaining a separate place of residence. Whenever we have not been out of town in the last three months I practically live at his place anyway and I always wake up with him curled up beside me. I think the only times I've been at my apartment ever since we acknowledged our feelings for each other was to get some fresh clothing as I spend every spare minute at his place, which is much nicer than my tiny little apartment. It won't take me long at all to move the few things over at my place to his and probably won't take more than one trip."

The rest of the plane ride was silent as the rest of the team either slept or did their own thing until they finally arrived in Anchorage hours later.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	12. Chapter 12

Part 12

"Did you know that Lynda Boyle-Reid was pregnant again?" Spencer said, as he read an article online in the Las Vegas Sun.

"Is she?" Hotch smirked. "She and your father really seem to be cranking them out now that they're together, officially."

"She must really believe that she loves my father and that he loves her too," Spencer said slowly. "The only way I can see this Lynda still being with my father is if he lied to her about what happened to his first wife since it was all over the paper at the time. I mean from what I can find out about her she's also a lawyer, although different type then my father. She deals more with lawsuits and is part of a team of lawyers for this very big company based in Las Vegas. This Lynda is apparently about 15 years younger so she still has a few childbearing years left, as my father is over fifty and even werewolves can't have babies past what is normal for a human woman, since their biological clock runs down around the same time."

"Why doesn't it surprise me that your father is involved with a much younger woman?" asked Hotch.

"Because you know my father's very flawed character?" suggested Spencer. "Of course, there's nothing wrong with two people of vastly different ages getting together, since I am 12 years younger then you are, but somehow their relationship reminds me of a pimp and his whore."

Hotch smirked at that rather apt description, although he was rather surprised it had come out of his mate's mouth.

"I know I don't know her or what her relationship with my father is like so maybe I am being rather unfair, it's just that I can't see William Reid caring anymore about Lynda then he did about mom, unless he has done a total 180 from the man I remember," Spencer continued, not looking up from his computer screen, so he didn't see his lover's expression and it was a good thing as he loved it when his mate smirked like that as it did funny, but pleasant things to his insides and almost always led to lovemaking.

"You have a right to your opinion and I didn't want to say anything before, but I do agree with you as there just something slimy about your father, at least from what I've read about him and also from what you have told me. Once I actually meet him my opinion might change to something a little better, but that is rather doubtful," Hotch agreed.

"Slimy now there's a word I hadn't considered where my father is concerned, but I think it fits," Spencer said with an appreciative chuckle. "I wouldn't be surprised in the least if my father is involved in something illegal, like accepting bribes for example, although I don't have any proof of that."

"It's possible," Hotch said slowly. "Really, it's more than, possible. We shouldn't worry about it though because your father will likely be dead very soon so there's no point of finding out if he is involved in any illegal activities. Besides, even if we did find something it's not like we could put him in prison."

"That's a good point," Spencer admitted.

"So why are you looking up this, Lynda?" Hotch asked with a half smile as he gazed at the gorgeous form of his mate who was sitting crosslegged looking very comfortable on the couch with a laptop in his lap.

"I just wanted to see what kind of women that my father got involved with," Spencer explained calmly. "It doesn't really surprise me that he's involved with a much younger woman and apparently has been since he separated from my mother and as I said there's nothing wrong with two people having a big age difference, but what does astonish me is this Lynda is staying with him, as from all I can find out about her she seems to intelligent the fall for my father's particular brand of bullshit. I would think that she would be able to see right through him and the act he puts on."

"We are often blinded to people's flaws when we believe we are in love," Hotch told Spencer. "It wouldn't surprise me at all if your father has a sidepiece or even two, even though he is married again for he did cheat on your mother after all, even if you're finding out about it years later so what's to prevent him from doing the same again?"

"Certainly not his sense of right and wrong or his conscience," Spencer smirked. "I for one would never cheat on you."

"Good, because I would rip whoever it was to pieces literally and then get rid of the body in such a way that it would never be traced back to me or even identified. Afterwards, you would have to be reminded that you are my property and believe me, you wouldn't like that particular lesson at all," Hotch growled sounding fiercely protective and territorial.

Spencer blushed not at all angry or upset, because he knew that Aaron might teach him a lesson, but that it would be deserved and that his mate wouldn't kill him, just stake his claim yet again on his body. He was sure there would be pain involved, probably a lot of it, but if he was stupid enough to cheat on the man he adored, then he would deserve the pain. From the way the Omega wolf in his chest quailed at the thought of cheating on his Alpha mate it wasn't about to occur anyway, so he didn't need to worry about having Aaron teach him that lesson.

"You don't need to worry," Spencer told Aaron softly kissing him on the lips, which the older man accepted with pleasure his body relaxing. "I love you way too much to ever do something so stupid as to cheat on you, so I promise you that's never going to happen at least not on my own free will."

"I know," Hotch said softly in a much calmer, tone of voice. "I'm sorry about what I said a minute ago, but the wolf in me just overtook me for a moment and changed how I would normally respond. That part of me is terrified that you're going to leave me, even if he knows intellectually that's never going to happen."

"It's fine," Spencer promised him with a smile and another kiss. "I promise I'm not going anywhere unless you're coming to. Our bond prevents us from separating anyway and while I could say go up to visit my brother in New York, without you, you told me that I would soon start to miss you intensely and that you would feel the same effect."

"Yes, that's true," Hotch said in his usual calm tone that made Spencer smile in relief. "Once a bond is forged nothing that is known to our kind or to humans for that matter can break it."

"You see? I'm not going anywhere, at least not without you," Spencer said smiling at the man he had come to trust more then any other just in the short year and a half he had known him.

"Good," Hotch growled playfully this time, his arm coming up to encircle Spencer around the shoulders pulling his mate close again.

The two men, one older, one younger were silent for a few minutes and then Hotch told his mate with a smile, "I'm happy see you can make jokes about your father considering all he put you and your brothers through."

"I couldn't make jokes and in fact, I barely thought about him at all before I met you. You give me the strength to get over what my father did to me and my siblings and therefore, I can make jokes," Spencer said content to just lay his head against his mate's shoulder and relax.

"Good, because you really shouldn't give him the power to still bother you after all this time considering he was in the wrong, even if he'll never admit it," Hotch said leaning down to kiss his lover gently on the lips. "It won't be long before he'll get what's coming to him pups or no pups as they will have their mother to look after them."

"You know they now have eight children and that doesn't count the ones that Lynda is pregnant with. I'm actually surprised she got pregnant again so soon after giving birth as she just had her second set of twins a few months ago.

"Well, I did mention that werewolves tend to be extremely fertile," Hotch reminded his mate. "Now, I realize we have no way of knowing if Lynda's also a werewolf, as it's quite possible she is, but if that the case, then she's probably from another pack as I can't see one from your old pack getting involved with your father, after what he did to your mother and to you as it would be common knowledge. However, even if Lynda is completely human, some human women are extremely fertile just like female werewolves so it's quite possible that she got pregnant while she was still breast-feeding, which happens often in older women in both species and she is 37, which makes your father 52."

"He's nearly 53 actually," Spencer said, "and will be in just another month. You know if Lynda is human I'll be very surprised if they have anymore after this depending on what she is actually carrying as we both know that it can be anywhere from a single pup to six, although your mother did have nine that one time, but she was also 50 and it killed her."

"Having nine, even if one of them died is not a very common occurrence, not even for werewolves," Hotch told Spencer who nodded having known this. "Usually it's anywhere from 2 to 4, with twins of course, being the most common followed by triplets. Really, we have to consider my mother's age when my siblings were born as from what little I know on the subject the age of the woman in question is a big factor."

"Yes, that true and there is plenty of scientific evidence to support that," Spencer agreed. "You know I wonder why my father is having so many pups considering how he failed to support the three he had. I mean he left us with no support and if the utilities for the house hadn't been automatically paid I don't know what we would have done as those six years before the three of us went to college were hard enough."

"Maybe their mother wanted them?" Hotch suggested. "She could even be using having children to try to save her relationship with your father, even if they've only been married for seven years now and even if they were together before that."

"Yes, they were lovers years before that and if so she should know what my father's like if she's as intelligent as she seems to be," Spencer said. "Of course, I realize it is possible that her oldest twins aren't my father's, but I still consider it unlikely. I doubt very much that my father cares anymore for the children he has now than he did for me, Dylan and Trevyn. I'm sure if my father has his way he'll place the children in some boarding school or something as soon as possible, just to get them out of his hair. Of course, it's also possible that he'll just abandon them and Lynda when it becomes too much instead of working out whatever the problem is."

"You know I hate to say this about any werewolf as it's considered a grave insult, but your father isn't acting like a werewolf at all," Hotch said in a disgusted tone of voice.

"What do you mean by that?" Spencer asked carefully looking up into his mate's intense dark eyes.

"Well, you know that we're partly wolf and that one of the wolves finest qualities is in their loyalty to their pack, especially their spouse and pups," Hotch begin to explain and Spencer nodded. "Now normally a regular male wolf doesn't look after their pups and leaves it to the mother to see them weaned. However, in a werewolf pack this is where our species differ slightly. Usually both male and female werewolves are equally protective of any pups they have and as I said it is considered a grave insult at the least to be accused of not looking after their offspring. Now, while my father was a bastard and my mother a bitch, they were still pretty protective of all the pups they had even if they didn't know how to show them affection and love. Also, they took their duty seriously and taught all of us what we needed to know about our history, traditions and laws. Your father failed in his duties of not only teaching you and your brothers what you needed to know about werewolf society, but also in protecting you and your siblings, like from those bullies for example when you went to high school at such a young age. At the very least your father should've counseled you about how to deal with the problem of being pushed into lockers and so forth and also comforted you when you came home in tears. He should've been proud at how intelligent the three of you were instead of resenting that fact. He should have congratulated all three of you when you were able to skip so many grades. He should've been there as a support system when the three of you went to college at 13 and this was doubly important because your mother was so sick with an illness that was in no way her fault and unable to fulfill the role. Now, I freely admit that humans have been known to resent their children when they're not turning out like they are expecting, but then a human doesn't have very strong protective instincts when it comes to the offspring of their loins like wolves do either, well, except the mothers in some cases, but you understand what I mean."

"So you're saying that father should have supported the three of us when we turned out to be so intelligent," Spencer summarized. "He should have congratulated us on our accomplishments and been proud of them instead of resenting us for outstripping him when he was the same age. That he should've been there to support us and advised us when we were being bullied."

"Yes," Hotch said firmly. "In fact your father is not acting like a wolf at all, but like a human who resents his sons accomplishments, because they overshadow his own, instead of being proud of them, which I promise you is a very rare thing among werewolves as usually we love our pups so much that we are proud at whatever they manage to accomplish and if they start down the wrong path we gently encourage them and try to get them straightened out. I'm not saying that there isn't an occasional bad wolf just like there are humans as you know for a fact, just that most of our species love our pups unconditionally no matter what. Now a wolf isn't perfect as you know and when we get off the subject of pups well every wolf has their idiosyncrasies just like humans do."

"So you're saying one major difference between us and humans is that we are all very protective and loving towards our pups," Spencer said.

"Normally, that is the case," Hotch agreed. "Your father however, doesn't seem to care about how many pups he has. Really, it's like he's just trying to show how vital and manly he is by producing as many pups as possible, but without caring about the pups themselves."

"If that was the case, then he wouldn't have abandoned my brothers and me," Spencer disagreed. "After all, we weren't sickly, we were extremely intelligent and healthy, so I would think he would want show us off and brag about how vital and manly he is for producing three children at once."

"Not necessarily," Hotch disagreed. "He might brag about producing a lot of children at the same time, but he wouldn't necessarily have to show evidence of that fact. Men in particular brag about their manly powers all the time and leave it up to people as to whether they think they are lying or not. There are a lot of gullible people in the world, so a lot of them probably believe him and he could use it to get with other females, although I don't know if he's actually done that or not, just that it's a possibility."

"Yes, I can see that working," Spencer said after he'd considered all he knew about humans and werewolves. "It's called the Adonis syndrome."

"The Adonis syndrome?" asked Hotch curiously.

"Yes, Adonis lived back in ancient Greece," Spencer explained. "From all reports he was a fine specimen of a man, the utter perfection of physical beauty and manliness. The problem was he knew it and he used to get with as many females as possible until he angered one of the ancient Greek goddess and she cursed him. According to legend he was killed by wild boar sent by Artemis who was jealous of her sister Aphrodite who loved him and of his good hunting skills. There are many different versions of the legend just so you know. In any case, ever since then an Adonis is a man who is especially shallow, arrogant, manly and vital, and although a man's physical beauty and perfection doesn't necessarily have anything to do with it, it usually goes hand-in-hand with the rest of it."

"Well, I have to admit that sounds like your father alright, although I don't consider him to be the utter perfection of handsomeness. I'm not saying he isn't handsome, just that he isn't like those models you see in those magazines or on billboards or those movie stars on TV, with they're extremely good looks that have woman falling all over them," Hotch said.

"I know what you mean," Spencer said with a little smile not at all insulted as he understood exactly what Aaron meant, "and believe me, I'm not insulted, since I never considered myself very handsome either, just kind of like the the boy next door. I definitely never had the females draping themselves all over me like some people do, like Morgan or you for example. Of course, if I hadn't met you it was unlikely that I ever would have married at all because as I said I don't consider myself the kind of man that women go gaga over."

"Well, I think you are very handsome and that's just not the Lifemate bond talking," Hotch told Spencer firmly. "I'm actually glad that you're not movie star handsome, as that means most females won't give you a second look and definitely won't try to get your attention, although I warn you it will happen some, just not as much as it does with Morgan. I don't know how I'll react if some female tries to drape themselves all over you, as you are my property, even if I know that you did nothing to encourage them. You know normally, I'm a very controlled individual, but when it comes to you I'm extremely jealous of anybody who sees you in that way, but especially of those that act on it."

"I hope you're not concerned about my loyalty to you and the bond we share," Spencer said just a little anxiously.

"No, it's not that at all," Hotch promised soothingly kissing his mate on the side of his neck causing Spencer to relax. "It's just that us Alpha males tend to be very jealous and protective of our Lifemates or even just our spouses as they are considered our property and no one else's. Now, this doesn't mean that they can't have friends of both sexes, just that us wolves are very territorial and will scare off anybody that thinks they can take their mate or spouse from them."

"You know I should be upset that you consider me your property but somehow I'm not," Spencer said quietly. "I never imagined I'd be comfortable being owned by anyone, but somehow to me it just seems natural and right."

"Good, that's how you should feel," Hotch told his mate pleased giving him another tender kiss on the side of his neck, causing Spencer to shiver in delight as lust began to swell through his form, causing Hotch to smirk, as he felt the swelling of lust and also smelled Spencer's arousal. "Yes, you are my property, but technically, I'm also your property as well and believe me, that's not a bad thing. Just think of it as a monogamous relationship, where neither one of us will ever be dissatisfied with each other and how our relationship is. Lifemates never cheat on each other and therefore, you're my property and mine alone, just as I am yours. Remember what I whispered to you when we made love for the first time?"

"You were whispering words of dominance and ownership over me and the fact that you now owned me, heart, body and soul," Spencer recalled blushing, as he remembered that night in vivid detail. "You claimed me as yours."

"And remember how you felt?" asked Hotch.

"I felt...as if I had finally come home," Spencer recalled blushing again. "As if I had finally found my place in the world and that there was no other place I'd rather be then by your side. I remember feeling happier than I'd ever been in my life, sated and satisfied when you finally spurted your seed into me that first time and the bond snapped into place. I wanted you to make love to me again and again, once I had recovered somewhat from that first orgasm and got over being scared of having your Knot tucked within me."

"Good, as that is exactly how you should have felt as the wolf in you knew that the ownership was mutual even if I am the Alpha and therefore, in charge. However, that doesn't mean that I don't listen to your opinion or that we don't make decisions together, just that I have overall authority and therefore, final say in any decisions that are made. Really, if you think about it that's how it is in any relationship where just one person is in overall charge, but if the relationship is solid then that person also listens to their partner's opinions and takes them into account before making any final decisions. I admit that a lot of relationships aren't like that, but the ones that last for 60 years or more are, because really marriage is about compromise and not about one person dominating the other and refusing to listen to their partner's opinions."

"So you're saying that even though I'm your property my opinions still matter just that you have final say what course of action to take?" asked Spencer wanting to clarify it just to be sure he was understanding correctly.

"Exactly," Hotch agreed calmly. "Like for example I could use my Alpha voice on you to prevent you from putting yourself in danger as it's very difficult to ignore the command of your Alpha or any Alpha really, but especially the one that you share a bond with. Also because we are mates our relationship protects you from other Alphas ordering you around to do things that they have no business ordering you to do. A lot of Alphas like to exert their authority over those of the lesser ranks because their personalities are not as strong as an Alpha's is and because they enjoy being bullies and getting others to do things that are often demeaning just because they can be. I mean just think of Elin and the way she uses her very strong Alpha personality to bully others. Of course, some Alphas have very weak Alpha qualities as their personalities aren't as strong as others of the same rank and the ones that have stronger personalities can get them to do what they want a lot of times and they won't be able to resist."

"Yes, I had noticed that the other Alphas haven't tried to command me to do anything," said Spencer slowly. "I've seen some of them looking at me like I'm dirt beneath their heels, but they haven't actually dared approach me. Oh, not the ones that you consider friends, but some of the others that know you by reputation alone."

"That's because they know me very well, even if it's only by reputation and that I will rip them apart if they dared do anything inappropriate and not feel guilty in the least for doing it," Hotch growled. "It is also one of the major reasons why the submissive partner is considered the property of the Alpha that has claimed them as it protects the weaker partner from other Alphas or even Betas that could order them around otherwise. If you weren't already claimed an Alpha or even a Beta could conceivably approach you and order you to get them dinner for example, because they don't feel like doing it themselves. Some werewolves are incredibly lazy and want to be waited on hand and foot and in that way we're really no different from humans. Now Rolf would never allow that kind of thing to continue, as he runs a tight ship or in this case pack and he doesn't believe that any werewolf should use their authority on someone of lesser rank in such a demeaning way or really for any reason unless it's an emergency of some kind. Wolves have been kicked out of other packs for such behavior in the past, but only if they don't correct it. The wolves are given every chance to correct their behavior and only when they refuse to stop using their very overbearing personalities to bully are they then banished from the pack. That particular rule goes way back to when werewolves were first created centuries ago and it's still part of our makeup even today. Also, if you haven't already noticed the wolves that are Omegas usually get fed last and are always at the back of the line when it's feeding time. However, since the two of us are Lifemates you automatically get to be up where the other Alphas are, which is at the front of the line."

"Yes, I had noticed that," Spencer admitted. "I noticed that nobody commented when you dragged me to the front of the line that first full moon, even though I saw that the other Omegas were supposed to be at the very end. I also noticed that several couples did the same thing and I have since noticed using my observational skills that there are several Alphas and Betas that are together, and even a Beta and Omega, but that we are unique as the only Alpha and Omega pair.

"Really Alpha and Omega pairs aren't all that uncommon," Hotch told Spencer. "It's just that we are the only ones in the pack currently. It is quite common in other packs to see an Alpha and Omega together even if they're just married and not Lifemates like we are. Really, every conceivable pairing has happened. Two Alphas being together for example or two Betas, even two Omegas, although that doesn't happen very often as they tend to gravitate towards someone with a stronger and more authoritative personality, like a Beta although it's usually an Alpha that they end up with, just not always."

"You know this might be a rather silly question, but how do you know who's in overall charge if you have two Alphas together or even two Betas? I mean I can understand who's in charge when it's an Alpha and Beta together or an Alpha and Omega or a Beta and an Omega, but when you're basically the same rank how do you tell who's in overall charge?" Spencer asked genuinely curious.

"No question is silly, Spencer," Hotch told his mate gently. "This is stuff that you should've learned as a pup, which is only one of the many ways your father failed in his duty to you and your brothers. You're just learning all this stuff now, stuff you should have been taught back when you were about 10 or 11, or even earlier considering how intelligent the three of you were. Learning that stuff at ten or eleven isn't set in stone it's just usually when it's done as you need to learn to read, write and the like first.

"And since most children don't learn to read until six or seven much less write that's why it's not done until 10 or 11," Spencer said and Hotch nodded in confirmation.

"Anyway back to your original question, as to how you tell who's in overall charge when two wolves of the same rank are together and the answer is really quite simple. When two wolves of the same basic rank get together whether that's as Lifemates or just because they fall in love, one Alpha usually has a weaker personality than the other and the same goes for two Betas or two Omegas and therefore, the one with the most forceful personality is in overall charge unless there is some kind of an emergency where the one with the weaker personality needs to take over, temporarily or even permanently depending on the circumstances."

"That makes sense," Spencer said wondering why that had never occurred to him as it really did make perfect sense just as he'd told Aaron.

"Don't dwell on the fact that it didn't occur to you," Hotch added after a moment seeing how Spencer was contemplating the fact that he hadn't figured it out for himself when it was pretty obvious. "You're still learning this stuff a little bit at a time and you will be for at least another couple years and probably longer than that, because we don't have time for formal lessons with our jobs and everything else we have going on. I'm sure the reason would have occurred to you eventually, since I did explain about how some Alphas, and Betas have weaker personalities than others. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you're still learning things about werewolves that I grew up knowing, just because I grew up in a pack, for the rest of your life. Some things aren't going to occur to either one of us that you should know until a situation comes up and it practically slaps both of us in the face with the obviousness of it."

Spencer shot Aaron a grateful look and Hotch smiled in return.

"You're doing very well learning all this stuff considering that you didn't start your education until just a year ago and a half," Hotch added after moment. "You pick up things at warp speed and you never forget thanks to your eidetic memory, which is a bonus. Really, you need to give yourself a break, as you've already learned a lot just in the last year."

"But I hate feeling like an idiot or at least that I should already know these things and don't. Other werewolves ask me something in particular, something I can't answer or I overhear somebody's conversation or observe something I don't understand. Sure, I know I'm intelligent and people keep telling me that I'm a genius, even though I don't believe intelligence can be quantified, but I feel like I'm lagging so far behind when it comes to knowing things that everybody else in the pack knows, because it was taught to them as pups, that I'll never catch up."

"You're not an idiot Spencer," Hotch told him sternly. "If you overhear or observe something from now on that you don't understand, then ask me and I'll be happy to explain it to you. As for those werewolves that ask you something that you don't know the answer to and then look at you as if you're stupid, well, you need to remember that they don't know your history and how you were made an outcast from your own pack when you were just a pup.

"Trust me, most wolves would be genuinely horrified if they knew you had been thrown out of your home pack for no reason other than the Alpha hated your guts. To be thrown out of your pack is a shame and a sin, but it's only supposed to happen when a werewolf has done something that warrants such a punishment and as I told you back when we first met. No, wolf under the age of 18 is ever made an outcast as you must be at least that old to be thrown out of the pack legitimately or at least that's usually the case, but Burke is apparently, breaking all the laws to suit his own ego, laws that have been in place for centuries.

"What Mack Burke did broke our laws, which you know already and I guarantee you if he isn't already overthrown and dead then I will be dealing with him and no one in the pack will stop me, because I'll be following pack law, the original ones not Burke's version of them. As I said before I am perfectly within my rights to deal with Burke in my own way and in this case that means his death.

"It doesn't even matter that I am not part of that particular pack I'm still a werewolf that's following pack laws, which is the same for every pack at least those here in the United States and what you said about not catching up? Trust me, you will catch up fast and while these feelings of inadequacy are understandable, you also need to understand that what you don't know about our species is in no way your fault, as that responsibility lies solely with your father. Your father is a no good mangy cur! That scumsucking, lazy, asshole bastard, doesn't deserve the distinction of being a werewolf. Your father acts more human than he does a wolf as wolves believe in honesty and fighting the Alpha leader openly and not betraying one of their own pack, particularly their family, which is exactly what your father did to you and your brothers."

"Well, I've never heard you cuss so much not even at the particularly stubborn asshole LEO's who do their best to prevent us from doing our jobs just because they don't want us there," Spencer said with a smile as he gazed up into the face of his mate adoringly, before leaning down and kissing Hotch on the side of the neck just as Aaron had done to him earlier. "I love you, Aaron, thank you for caring so much."

"You're more than welcome, although there is really no need to thank me at all for I'm only doing what any werewolf would do for their mate or even just their spouse," Hotch said, even as he put his arm around his mate's still slender shoulders, pulling him close. Spencer had gained quite a bit of muscle in his arms and legs in the last year and his body had also filled out nicely because he had started eating much more than he had been used to as a child and then a young man. Although, Spencer wasn't really naturally athletic he had taken to using the gym that Aaron had upstairs in one of the empty guestrooms and the two men often exercised together. Hotch absolutely adored his mate's body even more now than he had the first time he had seen his, Spencer naked. Thanks to all the exercise that Spencer had been doing his stamina had also improved a great deal and now he could often outlast him when the two of them made love. It was a change that Hotch had no intention of complaining about, since he absolutely loved his mate's increased stamina in bed.

"Since you are my Lifemate though, my protective feelings are probably five or even ten times as strong, because if you're just married there is no bond, except those of mutual respect and love, which is normal for any married couple. A Lifemate bond though is of a higher order, because a werewolf can lose a spouse and while they will grieve they won't kill themselves at least mostly. However, for one of our kind to lose their Lifemate, well, you know that usually leads to the death of the one that remains."

"Yes," Spencer said softly. "I've heard you say that before and I happen to agree, because I know I wouldn't live long if you were killed in the line of duty for instance. Just as I told the team awhile back to lose you would utterly destroy me."

"Just as it would me if anything were to happen to you," Hotch agreed immediately kissing the top of Spencer's head.

Spencer buried his face in the side of Aaron's neck and inhaled his scent, which always soothed him when he was upset or just needed calming down a little.

"You know what just occurred to me?" Spencer said lifting his head from the side of Aaron's neck.

"What is that?" Hotch asked lazily his head leaning back against the couch.

"Well, from what I can find out about this Lynda Boyle she's apparently lived in Las Vegas all her life, which means that she has to be human, because I don't remember any Boyles in the pack and I definitely don't remember her at all. Of course, I realize I didn't know every single werewolf in the pack since there was around 300 to 400 of them, but with my memory I would at least remember her face, so I believe that she's human and that's the theory I'm going to go with until proven otherwise."

"That hadn't occurred to me either, so you are correct, but in our defense we have been rather distracted so I suppose it's understandable," Hotch agreed with a smile. "If she is indeed human as you suspected earlier its surprising that she's having so many pups, because most humans stick to two or three at the most with occasional large family of four to five."

"But she's married to a werewolf so that's bound to make a difference," Spencer pointed out. "After all, it was you that told me werewolf families tend to be large unless something prevents the woman from having too many children. You told me back when we first met that a dozen to fifteen was about average in a werewolf family. "

"Yes, that's true enough," Hotch admitted. "Not all werewolf families are so large just those where the parents have good jobs or come from old family money or have made a lot of money themselves by owning their own business or by investing wisely, where they can afford to have that many pups. However, while your father and his wife can likely afford to have a dozen pups or more thanks to their very successful careers, Lynda just doesn't strike me as the mothering type, even if I said earlier that she could have wanted a lot of children. If she is human like you believe, most of the ones who tend to be very successful, also tend not to want large families, although that's not always true, just that usually very successful women want a pup or two, but not a horde of them. Of course, since I've never met her I can't say for certain whether or not she wanted so many or if your father just hasn't been using protection or if Lynda isn't using the pill, the ones that prevent pregnancy. Now if Lynda is a werewolf it's different as most werewolf females want large families, but then again they usually have the entire pack to help look after any pups, which is why werewolf females don't mind having a dozen or more."

"Well, I don't blame most human women for not wanting to go through the pain of childbirth more than two or three times," Spencer said, "and you know that my very well be the reason why most human women don't have more than two or three children, because from what I've read childbirth is an extremely painful process."

"That's a good point," Hotch said. "So basically, what you're saying is this Lynda is likely able to handle the pain of childbirth better then a lot of women."

"Or they could be drugging her up with a epidermal, which lessens the the pain considerably," Spencer said. "By the way, your comment of a minute ago about my father using protection, well, let me tell you now that from what I can remember of my father he used to be very irresponsible. I remember overhearing a conversation between father and mom back when I was about six and it was less than a year before he left his family. My father wanted more pups hoping that they would turn out more to his liking, but my mother, who was ill by then, refused saying that three was more than enough. My mother's schizophrenia wasn't too bad back so long ago and so she was more lucid most of the time then she was in later years. I remember that she would have these moments where she would just stare off into space for the longest time, before coming back to herself not realizing that any time had passed at all, but back then those episodes were few and far between. I didn't know back then that my mother was already on medication and she would've had to go off it in order to have more children, because taking the medicine she was on while she was pregnant would likely have had a detrimental effect on the fetuses. It wasn't a sure thing, but mom didn't want to take the risk. I suspect now that father had been urging mom for several years to have more children, but that she kept refusing."

"Probably," Hotch said after a minute. "Most of our kind whether male or female have this nearly irresistible urge to have as many pups as possible, some more and some less, of course. It seems to be a species imperative to reproduce, which seems to be much stronger then the human one. That was probably at least part of the reason that your father left, although it's not the whole cause as your mother's illness played a part in that as well."

"But where does that leave us?" asked Spencer. "I mean if the wolf imperative is to have as many pups as possible doesn't that mean that you should be unhappy with the fact that you can't have any at all with me?"

"Of course not," Hotch told Spencer quite sternly. "Sure, I would love to be able to reproduce with you, and sure I've never fathered any children of my own. However, my half siblings I am raising as my own has answered that particular biological imperative, even if I didn't father them. Besides, it is a way for us to reproduce you know although it's incredibly expensive."

"You're talking about the IVF process," Spencer said catching on immediately.

"Yes, I am and have been turning the idea over in my head for the last few months. Of course, if we decide to go that route the baby or babies will only have one of our DNA's or we could decide to both donate DNA and hopefully, we'd get at least half a dozen pups out of the process and I certainly have the money to afford it."

"Well, if I do agree to do it I only want to go through the process once as I hear it's long and complicated and we're going to have to find some female to carry the fetuses and I certainly am not close enough to any to even consider going that route, well except for JJ."

"Well, the reason I thought of it in the first place is I had a friend of mine who's married approach me with the idea and agreed to carry the fetus or fetuses. She's mated like we are and she and her husband agreed that if we wanted to go that route that she would be willing to be the carrier."

"Wow! That's very nice of your friends," Spencer said amazed at the couples generosity.

"Their names are Thierry and Anastasia Delacroix and you've met them a few times on full moons," Hotch said. "As for the reason they're willing to do this for us is because I kind of introduced them as Thierry was new to the area when we met. We became instant friends, and I'm the one that introduced him to Rolf as well as Anastasia. In any case, Anastasia was a longtime friend of mine and in fact she was one of those that chased me quite seriously at one point, but that immediately stopped when she laid eyes on Thierry for the first time."

"So they feel they owe you a favor for introducing them," Spencer said and Hotch nodded.

"That is one caveat however," Hotch said.

"What's that?" asked Spencer with a raised eyebrow.

"They both agreed that, though Anastasia is willing to carry the embryos for us we will have to get the eggs from somewhere else."

Spencer thought about that for a moment and then said, "That makes complete sense considering you told me awhile back that female werewolves like to know who their pups belong to for the most part, although you did say that there were exceptions."

"Also another caveat is that they are only willing to do this once and if we want more pups after this we'll have to find another surrogate."

"I think that's reasonable," Spencer said immediately. "Your two friends are willing to do us an incredible favor, by carrying multiple fetuses, which isn't for sissies so I can certainly understand their point of view. If we do decide to take them up on their offer I'm not sure how I'm ever going to be to thank them for it."

"You don't need to as they are already aware that I'm very grateful to them just for making the offer and they already know that you are as well, because I knew you'd want to thank them for the opportunity and you know if we want our pups to have both of our DNAs I can ask one of my sisters to donate and I'm sure one of them would be willing."

"Now that's an idea I hadn't thought of," Spencer said looking thoughtful. "I say that if one of your sisters is willing to donate a few eggs then go for it."

"If we do it that way we'll have to be very careful," Hotch said.

"What do you mean?" asked Spencer with a raised eyebrow.

"I just mean that we'll have to make sure the doctor doesn't extract more eggs from my sister then we're going to inject into Anastasia. We don't need one or more of my sisters eggs to end up in some egg bank, because she's not completely human and us werewolves never donate sperm or eggs to a bank like that since we can't allow humans to find out about us, well outside those that marry into the pack, of course. If we do it that way one of us needs to be present for that extraction and whatever doctor we choose we need to do a background check on to make sure they're completely honest with no criminal record, not that that's a guarantee of someone's honesty, but still it does reduce the risk."

"Wow! That sounds complicated," Spencer said looking thoughtful, "It'll be worth it though to have a few pups with both our DNAs."

"It will," Hotch immediately agreed smiling at the thought.

"So how many fetuses has your friend Anastasia agreed to carry?" asked Spencer.

"Up to six, which is normally the maximum number that any werewolf female can have at one time with a few rare exceptions, like my mother."

"Wow!" Spencer whistled appreciatively. "Those are some friends you have."

"Well, Anastasia and Thierry are younger than I am, although they're older than you as both are around 27 or 28 and so she is still young and healthy and should be able to go through a pregnancy without any problems."

"Well, you're right then they're not that much older than I am, only three or four years. I would think though that they would not want to do this and just have pups of their own."

"Oh, they already have a few," Hotch said with a grin, "as they met about five years ago and I know they're planning on having a few more after this, so they are just in-between having pups right now that's all."

"So how many do they have?" asked Spencer

"Five," Hotch answered immediately. "They had triplets first, two girls and a boy which happened soon after they had met and gotten married, within just a month or so if I'm remembering correctly, and then they had twin boys just two years ago now. I know they were discussing about having more when I happened to mention to them that we both thought it was a shame that we couldn't have pups of our own naturally and until then I hadn't even thought about the fact that we could use IVF. I'd heard of IVF of course, but it never occurred to me that that could be our solution."

"Well, I'm willing if you really want to go through with it," Spencer said. "If we can't get one of your sisters to donate the eggs required then we'll just do it the normal way and go to an egg bank, although that's not my favorite option because we have no idea what kind of problems might pop up from using some strange woman's eggs instead of someone you know. Yes, the doctors do a thorough medical examination and ask numerous questions, but that doesn't mean they don't miss things."

"You're forgetting that a werewolf can't get a lot of human diseases mostly because of our higher body temperature," Hotch said. "Our species averages at least 2 to 3° higher than a human, and you know that if a human had a temperature of a 101 or 102, well, he would be very sick, but for our kind it's perfectly normal."

"Well, yes, my body temperature is always about 101 and yet I've never been sick a day in my life at least not that I can remember," Spencer admitted. "I've never even had a cold or the flu and neither have my brothers and you would think we have have at least once as children considering that we didn't eat properly from the time we were seven."

"A temperature of 101 is perfectly normal for werewolf pups," Hotch assured him. "We tend to be extremely healthy individuals, even as pups, not that there are not exceptions to every rule, but for the most part..."

"We're just extremely healthy from the moment we are born," Spencer said and Hotch nodded.

"It's been theorized for centuries that the reason our body heat is so high is to allow for the transformation and is also what keeps us so healthy and from catching most diseases, the ones that have to do with the body anyway. Of course, it's just a theory as we haven't exactly done a lot of scientific testing since we must keep our species a secret from most of the human race."

"I hadn't thought that far ahead yet, but it's a relief to know that my werewolf DNA should protect whatever children we have from most diseases, if we have to use some strange woman's eggs from a bank instead of one or your sisters."

"I don't think getting one of my sisters to contribute will be a problem," Hotch said. "There are a couple that are mated just like we are, but the others should be willing. Normally, no werewolf would agree to donate the eggs to someone else so they could have pups, but since they are my sisters and we want our pups to be related to both of us I believe that they will see the wisdom in it."

"We can make whoever donates the eggs the godmother," Spencer suggested, "which means that whichever of your sisters does it will have a major part in whatever children we have lives."

"That's a very good suggestion and it might just get one of them to agree that much quicker," said Hotch kissing his mate on the lips. "I believe those that we can shelf the rest of this discussion for later as I want you! Now!"

At Hotch's command, Spencer shot up off the couch making sure to put his laptop on the coffee table and then shot upstairs like a bullet, which made Hotch smirk in satisfaction for apparently his, Spencer wanted him just as much as he did his mate.

Of course, to be technical he never stopped wanting his mate at all he was just able to control it, when he had to, but there was no need to control himself now as they didn't have to go to work until Monday and so he and Spencer could make love for the next day and a half if they so desired.

Hotch smirked again and strolled confidently up the stairs heading to the master bedroom where he knew Spencer would be waiting eagerly, already buck naked, laying spreadeagled on the bed and he had no intention of making his mate wait for him any longer.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	13. Chapter 13

Part 13

"Are you happy, pretty boy?" asked Morgan.

Morgan and Reid were sharing a rare drink together since Spencer really didn't drink much, but he had also realized that he hadn't spent much time with his friends on their own time when they weren't actually working and so he had told Aaron where he was going after work and Hotch had told him it was a good idea for him to spend sometime with Morgan just the two of them.

"Yes, Morgan, Aaron and I are very happy together," Spencer assured his friend with a smile. "I know you worry about me, but there's no need you as Aaron would never hurt me and if he did, well, I'm not stupid enough to stay with him."

Him leaving Aaron was never going to happen, but he also understood that Morgan needed reassurance and since he knew exactly what to say to let his friend see he was happy he did so.

"You don't need to worry about me and you know deep down, even if you refuse to acknowledge it in your conscious mind, that Aaron would never hurt me," Spencer told his friend with a smile taking a sip of his drink. "You're just looking for a reason to not like Aaron and me in a relationship and you're like a dog with a bone and won't just let it go."

Now there was a ironic statement considering what both he and Aaron were.

"You need to give it up and stop trying to come between Aaron and I. Both my brothers have accepted my relationship with Aaron and really like him. They are even starting to consider him an older brother figure. Dylan and Trev would never have accepted Aaron if they didn't know he had my best interests in mind and truly loved me as the three of us are really close, due to our father leaving when we were seven. They would have tried to convince me that our relationship was a bad idea if they believed for a second that Aaron would hurt me. I am far more likely to listen to them, then I am to you, because while you are a good friend you don't truly have my best interests in mind. You just won't let the idea that Aaron is going to hurt me or that our relationship is not a good idea go, while my brothers accepted it so long as they knew I was truly happy and that Aaron was treating me right. "

"Spencer..." Morgan began, but Spencer glared at him, which was so unheard of that it actually caused Morgan's words to die in his throat.

"You will drop this and quit trying to find reasons to not accept Aaron's and my relationship and for God's sakes quit being so damn stubborn. You are ruining our friendship with your stubbornness and if this is some plan of yours to get us to break up it isn't going to work because if it comes down to a choice between my friendship with you and my relationship with Aaron, I know which one I'll choose and it will not be in your favor. This is nonnegotiable and you will either give it up accept that I have a right to live my life anyway I damn well choose, so long as I am doing myself or anyone else no harm or breaking any laws."

"You're right that you have a right to live your life the way you want," Morgan admitted as he to took a gulp of his beer.

"Yes, I do," Spencer said more calmly. "It's my life and while I appreciate that you obviously have a overprotective streak towards me you need to mind your own business as the only life you have a right to control is your own. If you were this overprotective towards Garcia or JJ they would kick your ass, but normally I'm to nice to do something like that. So just consider this as your kick in the ass and if your don't let me live my life our friendship is over."

"Reid, how can you say that," Morgan protested vehemently.

"I've reached the end of my tether with your attitude. I've run out of patience and I've had it up to here," Spencer said holding his hand to his throat to indicate he had reached the end of his patience. "As it is Aaron never assigns us to work alone together, because he knows at the moment our relationship is strained and doesn't want to put me under anymore pressure then I already am. I've already got a strained relationship with Gideon I don't need one with you to."

Morgan knew that what Spencer said was the truth as his relationship with Jason Gideon was incredibly strained at the moment. Gideon was extremely old fashioned when it came to relationships, which meant one between a man and a woman not one between two men. Morgan knew that back in Gideon's day if you just happened to be gay you kept it a deep dark secret and never displayed it in public. In the 21st century those things were different, even if a lot of people still didn't accept same-sex relationships it didn't carry this stigma as it had decades ago.

"Now if you don't mind I'm going home to Aaron as I only agreed to have a beer with you so I could explain exactly what's going to happen if you don't give it your vendetta," Reid said, finishing the last sip of his drink.

"I don't have a vendetta," Morgan protested and Reid just glanced at his big black friend and rolled his eyes.

"What do you else call it considering you've been against Aaron's and my relationship from day one, in other words, ever since you found out about it. Every human on the face of the deserves to be happy and I definitely fall into that category since I am much happier than I ever have been in my life and you're trying to ruin a good thing just because you're an overprotective ass, who doesn't want to see someone they consider a baby brother involved with another man. However, this is your one and only warning… Back off or face the consequences. Now, if you don't mind and even if you do I'm going home to Aaron as I told him I wouldn't be long and that's why I only had one drink. You need to think long and hard about whether you're going to keep up this grudge you have against Aaron and I being together or accept that it is my decision and continue to be a friend to me and move on. The decision, of course, is yours."

Spencer rose from one of the uncomfortable wooden chairs in a back corner of the bar, plopped down a few dollars on the table for a tip and rapidly moved towards the entrance anxious to get home to his mate.

Morgan watched Reid go and didn't move an inch as he observed his friend walk rapidly away until he was out of sight. Morgan continued to drink from his mug and knew that he had deserved to be lectured as apparently Reid was at the end of his rope with his attitude and deep down Morgan really couldn't blame his friend for having run out of patience. Morgan was surprised that it had been his friend lecturing him instead of him trying to convince him that he and Hotch didn't belong together. He knew he was going to lose Reid's friendship if he didn't get over his grudge against their relationship, especially since his friend was right and he did have a right have to his own life.

Reid and Hotch had been together for over six months now and their relationship seemed to be as strong or even stronger than ever and Morgan knew intellectually that his chances of coming between them, especially since Hotch had such a strong personality were essentially nil and knew what he wanted. He kept pushing the boundaries and now apparently even Reid had reached the end of his rather monumental patience with him.

Morgan had never seen his friend as upset, as he had been tonight, even though he had only known him for a year and a half, but he had to admit he deserved it for being such an ass recently. It had been surprising to him that his friend apparently had a temper and he should have known that already, because everybody had a temper in the right situation and apparently Reid had reached the point where he lost his and Morgan couldn't really blame him for that either considering.

Finally Morgan sighed and ordered another drink and just looked out at all the people dancing wondering if he'd ever be able to fix his relationship with Reid or if the two of them were just going to walk on eggshells around each other forever. As his friend had said it was his choice to make as to whether or not he accepted his relationship to Hotch and until he reached that decision Reid would likely avoid him as much as he possibly could and Morgan couldn't really blame his friend for that either.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

Spencer drove home still fuming. Why couldn't Morgan see that he was at the end of his patience with all his overprotective hovering? Morgan was a profiler for god sakes, he should be able to tell that he and Aaron we're getting along fine and that he was happy, but instead Morgan was always bringing up the fact that he didn't think he and Aaron belonged together. Spencer wasn't sure if Morgan had something against same-sex relationships or if he was just being overprotective because he thought of him as a little brother, but either way it had to stop.

Tonight had been just another such attempt and Spencer refused to go anywhere with Morgan unless they were working until he accepted his relationship with Aaron. Spencer appreciated that Aaron didn't put the two of them together when they were working in just teams as his mate was well aware that Morgan would annoy him to death if the two of them were alone even if he acted professional while he was questioning witnesses or suspects. Spencer had gone to the bar with Morgan, although he had insisted on driving his own vehicle in case he needed to make a quick escape just to see if he could settle the last of Morgan's doubts.

Spencer snorted and felt that Derek Morgan was too stubborn for his own good, as he got an idea in his head and he just wouldn't let it go like a dog with a bone, which he thought was rather an ironic metaphor considering what he and Aaron were, but still appropriate.

Spencer tried to calm himself down before he got home and he looked around the car that he had bought with his own money in satisfaction, because he'd never had the cash to take driving lessons or buy a car, but although Aaron had helped him pick out an appropriate vehicle for himself and he still couldn't prevent the surge of satisfaction as he looked at the nice leather seats. It was a nice car and not used like he had been intending to buy until Aaron had convinced him otherwise and said there was no reason to buy used when used cars could have so many problems. Buying used books was one thing, but don't ever buy a used car unless you had no other choice and he made good money now, Aaron had said. There was no point of being conservative when he had plenty of money of his own and would be happy to loan him some to get himself a decent car if he needed it. Spencer knew that Aaron really meant give him the money to get a decent car, but he had not said that because he knew that Spencer had his pride and would never have accepted what he had seen as charity.

Aaron had helped him choose something appropriate and had made sure that it was big enough for him as well in case he needed to ride in it because he wasn't going to be scrunched up in a tin can so he wanted plenty of room for his long legs, but luckily Spencer was also tall and wouldn't be comfortable in one of those mini vehicles that didn't have very much leg room even in the front seat.

Finally he made it home and he had calmed down considerably before he did, although he was still seething.

"Didn't enjoy yourself with Morgan?" Hotch asked immediately as soon as Spencer had entered the front door and closed it gently behind him instead of slamming it like he wanted to.

"No," Spencer said shortly. "I was hoping to convince him to lay off me and you and our relationship, I told them I was at the end of my tether with my patience for his overprotective attitude and that he had a choice to make. I told him that our friendship was over with if he couldn't see that I was happy with you."

"He's not a stupid man, just as stubborn one," Hotch said immediately sympathetic since he knew very well how stubborn Morgan could be.

"I know, because he never would've become part of the elite unit of the BAU if he was, but I really I am at the end of my patience with him and you know that usually I have monumental patience. He's had plenty of time to accept the fact that we are together in that way and I'm not going to leave you just to make him happy. I did tell him that if you didn't treat me right that it wasn't like I couldn't leave you and I would if necessary."

"Like hell!" Hotch roared at that.

"Shh!" Spencer soothed immediately trying to calm his mate down by walking into his arms, where Hotch immediately wrapped his arms around his waist and refused to let go. "I only said that to Morgan, to let him know that I would not stick around if you weren't treating me right and that I wasn't one of those people that was going to put up with an abusive relationship as I knew that was at least partly what he wanted to hear. Too many people stay in abusive relationships either because they don't want their children to be without a father or a mother or because they think they deserve it. I told you only a minute ago that I was hoping to convince Morgan to lay off about our relationship, but I promise you I'm not going anywhere unless you're coming to. I'm perfectly happy with you, so you don't ever have to fear me leaving you as if would destroy me if I did."

"Sorry, I overreacted," Hotch apologized contritely.

Normally, as an Alpha male he never apologized for his actions, but he knew that he had overreacted when Spencer had mentioned telling Morgan that he would leave him if the relationship turned abusive.

"The wolf in me is terrified that you're going to leave me, even if I know that's not possible," Hotch tried to explain.

"Even our species has fears, and those fears are nearly impossible to overcome sometimes," Spencer soothed as he kissed Aaron on the cheek. "We have to remember that Morgan doesn't know that we're not human or about Lifemate bonds. He doesn't understand that I could never leave you or that I was just telling him that to help soothe some of his anxiety and to help him deal with the situation. I would hate to lose his friendship, however, he's not as important to me as you are."

"I don't want you to lose his friendship, since I know things are still strained between you and Gideon," Hotch said.

"I won't say it wouldn't hurt to lose his friendship," Spencer said, "but it's his choice to make, one way or the other, because I've had it with his attitude as he's driving me to distraction and not in a good way like you do. I know that Garcia has talked to him about it and so has JJ and Elle. If Morgan had his way I would be alone for the rest of my life, as he doesn't want to see that I'm very happy with you. He's had plenty of evidence that our relationship is strong, and sure we argue some, but that's part of any normal relationship."

"Actually, we don't argue as much as I know some couples do," Hotch said. "We're both stubborn though so as you said we do argue some."

"The reason we don't argue much is, because we already know each other so well and we haven't just been together a year like Morgan believes, but over two," Spencer said. "Besides, you know by now I'm using a pretty easygoing person, although I'm not saying I don't have my moments of being stubborn."

"Yeah, you have your moments," Hotch smiled, as he kissed Spencer on the top of his head, "but then so do I. Feeling better now?"

"Yeah, a lot thanks," Spencer said with a smile. "You know I don't get upset too often, but when I do it's not very easy to calm me down again like it is for most people."

Hotch laughed at that and the two of them, simply stood there for a few minutes holding each other.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

"You know I've been thinking that it's a good idea that we take care of whatever business we have with your father and Mack Burke, before we take the Delacroixs up on their offer," Hotch said.

"But Aaron, Lynda is pregnant again, do we really want to kill my father at this time?" Spencer asked worriedly. "It might cause her to go into premature labor and that wouldn't be good."

"She's due soon and once she gives birth to them I'll arrange for both of us to have some time off," Hotch said.

"All right, but let's make doubly sure that this Lynda isn't my father's Lifemate. I know it's doubtful, but it doesn't hurt to check, you know?" Spencer almost pleaded. "Even though I firmly believe that Lynda is completely human."

"Yes, I did agree that if she was, that I wouldn't kill your father because it would also cause Lynda to kill herself as well," Hotch agreed causing Spencer to relax. "It won't hurt to do some investigating beforehand. I know this possibility has been mentioned, but it's possible that their relationship is rocky at best and falling apart at worst. As has been pointed out several times already your father isn't the type that can maintain a happy, harmonious relationship with anybody, since he is unwilling to compromise, but until we actually go to Las Vegas there is no way to prove one way or the other if their relationship is falling apart."

"Alright then," Spencer finally agreed. "I did agree back when you first mentioned the idea about getting revenge on my father that he did deserve it and that we would probably be doing those pups of his and his wife a favor. However, we're going to have to come up with some story for the team that isn't a complete lie as we both know they will never understand about us taking out William Reid and might even report us."

"We'll just tell them the truth, just not the whole truth," Hotch said. "We'll just tell them that we needed a break from the BAU and that we've never been on vacation together which is true and that you wanted to show me your old hometown. I doubt that William Reid's murder will ever appear on television if we do it right and if it does there's no way it will be connected back to us. We'll mix enough truth along with the lie that it should pass even the team's scrutiny easily. One thing in our favor is that the team would never suspect that we would deliberately set out to murder your father, because I've always been very unbending when it comes to justice and the law. This is why the team will never suspect me of deliberately murdering William Reid and if they know that it happened around the same time that we were in Las Vegas it will be no more than a coincidence."

"What about me though?" asked Reid.

"There is no way the team will even look at you as a suspect for it, because they know you as a gentle soul, as that the fact you portray to the world and people like you don't usually have it in them to murder someone in cold blood or even watch it being done," Hotch said.

"Yes, that's true," Spencer admitted, "but everyone has more than one side to their personality and while the human part of me doesn't agree with what you're planning to do the wolf in me thinks it's only right and about damn time."

Hotch smirked for his mate rarely cussed, but in this case, it was more than warranted in his opinion.

"We'll do it in front of the pack and your father will not be able to turn down the challenge once we prove our case to whoever the Alpha is, which we shouldn't be too hard to do as I'm sure some of the people in the pack will recognize you, even if you were only seven the last time they laid eyes on you. The proof that you're alive, should be enough to make our case for us. Also some of them can act as witnesses that we were nowhere near where William Reid was murdered or had anything to do with his disappearance if it's necessary, but if we do it right witnesses shouldn't be necessary at all."

"I think that this business will probably take awhile to take care of and you should tell your friends to go ahead and have a few more pups if they want and that will take them up on their offer either next year or the year after," Spencer suggested.

"That's very generous of you, Spencer," Hotch told his mate kissing him on the top of the head.

"Not really," Spencer said with a shrug. "I think it's a good idea to wait a couple more years before we even think about going through the IVF process so that the team isn't astonished that we did do it because we've only been together a little over a year now or at least that's what the team thinks. Yes, we told them that we would consider adopting a couple of children in a few years, but I think they would be very astonished and maybe just a little bit suspicious if we did it this soon into our relationship. Both of us know our relationship is solid and that neither one of us is going to leave the other, but the team doesn't know about the whole werewolf/Lifemate thing and so we need to give them a little bit more time to get used to the idea of us as a permanent couple. After all, with the pressure of our work couples break up all the time, although I will admit that 95 of them there is only one person working in the FBI, while the other has a different profession."

"You're right," Hotch conceded after thinking about it. "To the team we've only been together a little bit more than a year, while really we've been mated for just over two. It would be wise to give it at least another two or three years, before we consider having pups through IVF and I'm pretty sure that Thierry and Anastasia will agree with that, at least once I explain to them exactly why we're going to wait awhile. Keeping the secret of werewolves is extremely important and they will understand why we don't want to rush ahead and have pups. Even if the team would never hit upon the real truth of the situation we still have to work with them and we don't need to make them suspicious."

"I also think it's time to ask Garcia to do a little digging into my father and see if he has anymore children out there. Ones that might have ended up in an orphanage, or even the street."

"Let's hope your father wasn't that irresponsible, because if any did end up in an orphanage, the fact that they were werewolves would not be able to be hidden for very long, because while orphanages don't have the best security they have to sleep in dormitories and there's also mandatory bed checks. If one or more of them did end up in an orphanage I will not be surprised to find out if they're dead now, since a lot of people would think that they're possessed by the devil or some such nonsense and even if they aren't it's not normal to be able to change into a wolf and it might very well bring national media attention, which would be very bad. If that happened the pack would have no choice, but to kill him, so I admit that it's a very slim possibility that your father, even as shallow and self-centered as he is would be that stupid. There might indeed be a few other werewolf children out there that are related to you, but if there are I'm sure their mothers were told what would happen on the full moon or the more likely possibility is that someone was keeping an eye on your father and simply took the pups once they were born to be raised by the pack and likely killed the mother in the process."

"Which you told me was not a practice you approved of, as you said it would be better to bring the mothers or fathers into the pack and only kill them if it was absolutely necessary. By the way, you're likely right about my father, as even he wouldn't be stupid or irresponsible enough to do something like get a one night stand pregnant with his pups. Of course, he has no idea that he's going to be dead very soon anyway at least if you have your way," Spencer said.

"Oh, I will," Hotch promised his voice a menacing growl. "I doubt very much that the Alpha of the Las Vegas pack will deny me this, just so long as it's not the same one that made you and your brothers outcasts in the first place. Of course, if it is I plan on challenging him right off the bat and then your father will be next. Before we do that though, we need to have Garcia do a search and try to track your father's movements for the last 18 years at least. Now, I admit it's possible she won't find anything that we aren't already aware of, but somehow…"

"You don't believe that Garcia won't find anything," Spencer said. "You believe she'll find at least one or two children out there that are related to me."

"It's just a suspicion I have and I might very well be wrong," Hotch said finally with a shrug. "Actually, I hope I am. However, the two of us have to at least consider the possibility, because really that's what we do for a living when we catch our unsubs. I know that we're still learning things about human behavior, but a lot of unsubs act a certain way, a way we've seen before and written it down for our files and the way your father has been acting—at least from what we know of his life—well I've seen it before. Sure the team comes up on behavior in their work that they've never seen before as we're still adding to our knowledge when it comes to behavioral science and will be for many years to come, but the reason we can give a profile is because a lot of unsubs act the same way with slight variations. A profile is just a guideline really, even if it's usually pretty accurate."

"So you're saying that my father's behavior at least from what you know of it anyway fits one of the BAU's profiles," Spencer said having never considered it like that before.

"Yes," Hotch answered bluntly, but honestly. "It's really the most common type of profile even if your father isn't a criminal and has committed no crimes as far as we are aware, but from his attitude and self-centeredness he could have easily turned into one. Your father likely has abandonment issues considering that he left his wife and three sons, when there was just a little bump in the road and it was no longer smooth sailing. He definitely has commitment issues as well and left at the first sign that his marriage was not perfect, unwilling to put in the work required to maintain it, which also tells me that he's lazy as well as self-centered and doesn't care about anyone except himself, not even the seeds of his loins. I doubt very much he cares about his eight children or the ones that his wife is pregnant with now and probably sees them as mirror images of himself. However, if they disappoint him, he will ignore that they exist or even abandon them entirely just like he did to you and your brothers 18 years ago and as you said he likely considers himself a type of Adonis somebody who is manly and vital, as his multiple pups with at least two different women prove."

"You think there's at least one more women out there whose either dead and the pups now part of the pack or she's a werewolf and therefore, looking after her pups even without William Reid."

"That last scenario is the least likely, because as I said female werewolves like to know who their pups belong to and who will support them. No, I suspect that all of William Reid lovers at least the ones that he got pregnant were human. I'm not saying that he wouldn't have had sex with a female werewolf or even several, just that he would've been careful to use a condom or make sure that the woman in question was on the pill. I doubt very much that your father is stupid enough to pollute his own territory and by that I mean his pack as the Alpha would definitely call him to account for his actions. A male werewolf has been forced to marry in the past, if they happen to get a female of their kind pregnant, because they didn't bother to use protection and instead went bareback without considering the consequences."

Spencer knew exactly what that term used in that context meant as Aaron had explained it to him a few months back.

"What if a werewolf cheated on their spouse and happened to get a female pregnant?" asked Spencer. "What if both of or even just one of them were married when pups were conceived?"

"Well, it really depends on what the circumstances are," Hotch said looking thoughtful. "If for instance both of them were married and they both consented to having sex with each other outside the marriage then they're both equally guilty and their spouses can demand their deaths or at least get divorced from them, because if you cheat once then you're likely do it again."

"What about the pups though?" asked Spencer.

"No pack would ever kill a pregnant woman, no matter her crimes," Hotch promised and Spencer nodded looking relieved. "However, they would take care of her until after the pups were born and then they would likely make her an outcast and she would no longer be welcome among them, which would mean that she'd likely have to move somewhere else where no one would know of her crime. Also she would have a choice, as to whether or not to keep the pups or give them to one of the pack to raise."

"What happens to the children in that she had with her spouse?" asked Spencer.

"Well, they either go with the mother or they stay with the father, but siblings are never split up like humans who are divorced do a lot of times with their own. However, it is unlikely that the spouse if he is a werewolf and not human would accept pups that were not his own, especially when the female got pregnant because she had sex with another male.

"Now if the female had pups before they got married then of course, he would accept them as his own. As for the male involved in the cheating, well, the female has every right to divorce him, ask that he be made an outcast or even has a right to take his life just like the female as they're both equally guilty. If the female just happens to be a werewolf, well she is unlikely to accept her husband back again.

"See unlike humans where there is often an imbalance and the female is often blamed for enticing a male to have sex with her, even if that's not what happened and therefore, she is guilty, a lot of times the man in question gets off scot-free, which isn't fair, but that's just the way it is among the humans. In a werewolf pack though no such imbalance exist and both the male and female are considered equally guilty.

"Now, next is rape and while it is rare among werewolves it does happen sometimes and it's usually a female that is the victim just like among the humans. If that turns out to be the case, then the male that is responsible is instantly put to death if it can be proven that he is guilty. Our species has absolutely no patience or tolerance for one of our kind that rapes someone else and they aren't even given the privilege and honor of fighting for their life as there is no challenge issued and that werewolf is simply put to death, normally as painfully as possible. Rape is the worst crime imaginable among werewolves and not just humans as it destroys sense of self and a lot of rape victims never recover unless they get proper support and sometimes not even then. This is one of the very few crimes among our kind where their death is made as painful as possible as we want the werewolf responsible to feel exactly what the female felt before they leave this world and as a warning to all the adults of the pack to never make that particular wolf's mistake or the same fate will await them as well."

"What precisely does a pack do in that situation?" asked Spencer more curiously than anything else not in the least bit upset with what he was being told.

Hotch studied his mate carefully for a minute and when he saw what he is expected, which was quiet acceptance and genuine curiosity, so he continued, "Well, first they beat him within an inch of his life and after that he is chained up temporarily to give him a little time to heal, but he's not fed or even given water as there is no point since he's soon going to die anyway. After the werewolf in question has had time to contemplate their awaiting fate, which is usually anywhere from three days to a week, he is then unchained and at this point he's pretty weak as he hasn't even had water in all that time and each adult werewolf in the pack has a chance to get their licks in before he is finally put out of his misery and sent to hell. Now, many werewolves don't participate in this and pups are kept away from him, as no werewolf would want any of their pups possibly negatively influenced by a rapist and a lot of them are too young to see the violence that occurs when this kind of crime takes place."

"Good, I'm glad the children are kept out of it," Spencer immediately concurred looking relieved.

"After he is unchained from where he was kept prisoner, each adult werewolf, is then allowed to use their claws to tear off strips of his flesh and once the rapist is begging for mercy, which is muffled, because some type of gag is always used, well, the final humiliation occurs and every female that wants to is allowed to cut off a little bit of his penis until there is nothing left."

Spencer winced at this, although he said nothing and in fact he thought it was rather appropriate considering it was the rapist's manhood that had gotten him in trouble in the first place.

"After the penis has been destroyed, well then the female that was raped in the first place is allowed to finish him off if she wants to by slitting his wrists and throat, where he usually slowly bleeds out over a number of hours and is in a great deal of pain for all that time if it's done right. I've heard that some have lasted a couple of days before they finally take their last breaths. Once they are dead, they are not given the honor of being buried in the ground and we do the same thing that we do to wolves that murder someone for the hell of it and not in self-defense. We burn what's left of the body and then grind up the bones either spreading them around to be taken by the wind or dumping them in a large body of water as either way leaves no trace. After that, we make sure that we dig up the ground where the rapist bled and put fresh dirt brought from somewhere else over it so that it will never be discovered."

"I never realized that our species could be so vicious," Spencer said his tone calm speaking for the first time in awhile. "However, I don't disapprove of the punishment as I think killing someone who rapes is a better solution than putting them in prison, because once they get out they just continue in the same pattern as they can't seem to help themselves. There is no known way to get a serial rapist to stop, except their death. I know that humans believe that every criminal can be rehabilitated, but there are just some diseases that cannot be fixed."

"Well, luckily, it's a pretty rare occurrence among werewolves, although a human rapist can still rape a human and vice versa of course, but a werewolf raping one of his own species is a pretty unusual event," Hotch said. "Also there is always some of the pack that don't have the stomach for torturing even somebody like a rapist so they look after the children or at least stay well out of it."

"I might agree with our kinds form of punishment for somebody who commits such a horrible crime, but I doubt very much that I would have the stomach to participate or even watch what you described," Spencer said with a shudder.

"It's no different than some of what we see on the job," Hotch reminded Spencer.

"There is one difference and that is the victim is usually dead when we discover them," Spencer pointed out. "That might not make much difference to you, but to me there is a whole lot of difference between watching somebody being tortured and examining the victim after they've already passed into the next world."

Hotch had never thought of it like that, but his mate was right and there was a whole world of difference in watching somebody meet there end due to torture and then examining the body afterwards. Hotch know the reason he had never thought of it that way was that he was a natural predator, all Alphas were, some more or less of course and his human part might not take joy in the torture of someone, even when it was deserved, but the Alpha wolf in him wouldn't let him turn away, until it was done. His mate, on the other hand, was really a gentle soul as most Omegas were and unless pushed past a certain point stayed that way. They would fight for those they loved, or if they were in a bad situation where there was no easy way out, but mostly, they were gentle and compassionate. He knew that some werewolves thought that they were there to be beasts of burden, to be ordered around and to be bullied whenever they pleased, but this was not true. Any good leader of a pack didn't permit those with more gentle personalities to be bullied or picked on. In fact, in most packs bullying would never be allowed with obvious exceptions of course.

"You're right, there is a difference, between watching and just examining the body afterwards," Hotch agreed. "In that particular way we differ and there's nothing wrong with that it all. It's really not surprising considering my rather forceful Alpha personality, but you have a more gentle soul and are not a natural predator like I am, although you can become one if pushed by certain circumstances. So to get back to your original question as we did kind of get off track. The last scenario is where a werewolf gets a female of his kind pregnant, but neither has a spouse and when this is the case a lot of times the two of them are forced into matrimony. It is something of a rule among our kind that if you get a female pregnant and you're not married at that time then you must marry the mother of your pups. Now, as you have already figured out for yourself mostly those relationships don't work out because really it's no different than an arranged marriage, except for the fact that in an arranged marriage the female doesn't dare get pregnant until after the wedding as in those types of families it is considered a major sin and the female in question is often ostracized for it."

"Well, werewolf rules and laws are more complicated than I thought," Spencer said thoughtfully, "but you know from what I've heard so far our rules and laws make more sense a lot of time, then the human ones. Werewolf justice is often swift and harsh and it reminds me strongly of the Old West back in the late 1800s and and also the early 1900s, because justice was often just as swift and harsh out there to."

"Sometimes marriage isn't enforced on the couple, that did the deed, but a lot of times both are ostracized and then sometimes they aren't as it just depends on who's in charge of that particular pack where it occurs as there is no set law for it," Hotch said.

"So we need to get ready to head up to Vegas in what 2 months time?"

"About that, yes," Hotch agreed, "as by that time you're half siblings should be here, so they will probably be at least a couple weeks old at that point, since from what we know she's due in just over a month's time. I'm actually surprised that they aren't already here since multiples are nearly always early, especially if what we suspect is true and that is this Lynda Boyle is human and not a wolf."

"Can I ask you something?" Spencer asked a little tentatively.

"You can ask me anything you want and you never have to be afraid of me getting mad at you," Hotch told his mate gently putting his arms around Spencer's shoulders.

"Honest questions, even if their tad personal or blunt should always be given honest answers, especially to somebody that you agreed to share everything with," Hotch told Spencer quietly and gently, making sure not to raise his voice. Even though he and Spencer had been together for over two years now his mate was still a little tentative about asking certain types of questions and Hotch know that was his early childhood training coming to the fore where asking questions had been at best discouraged and at worst got him slapped or at least stared at with contempt or totally ignored.

Hotch's tone and the tightening of his arm around his shoulders seemed to give Spencer courage, so he blurted out, "You mentioned something when we first got together about possibly getting married and I was wondering if we were going to do that."

"Do you want to?" Hotch asked looking startled.

"More than anything," Spencer said his golden brown eyes lighting up at the thought. "Even if we never have pups by the IVF process I would still want to wear your ring and say my vows in front of our friends. I want everyone to know, that I have no intention of ever leaving you and that's what marriage means to me and meant to my mother as well. If we get married to me it's a permanent commitment, even if I realize that a lot of the human race gets divorced at some point. My mother deeply believed in the sanctity of marriage and I remember her telling me and my brothers when we were about five that if we ever got married that we had to make sure that we loved that person as marriage was about commitment and about working through any problems that occurred in our years together.

"She said that she knew a lot of humans left their spouse at the first bump in the road or even after they'd been married 15 or 20 years and that when that happened it usually meant that the couple had lost their common ground as they hadn't worked to maintain it. She said that contrary to popular belief a marriage wasn't all a bed of roses that it took work to maintain, compromise and talking about your feelings and what was bothering you instead of keeping it all bottled up.

"She also said that the death of a child could also cause it, because a couple couldn't get past their grief and they were likely to blame each other for the child's death, even if it had been no one's fault and just bad circumstances that had brought it about. She did maintain that it was okay to get a divorce if your spouse cheated on you as she said once a cheater always a cheater or if they were abusive then it was best to leave, but that you should try to stick it out otherwise. Since I know you'll never cheat on me and you know I'll never cheat on you I think marriage is the perfect solution to let the world know of our commitment to each other and that you are mine and I am yours until we both die."

"Well, I can certainly see that where you got your intelligence from," Hotch said his voice choked with emotion for he was quite moved by what Spencer had just told him.

"Yes, my mother was quite intelligent before the schizophrenia took her," Spencer said, as he snuggled close to Aaron's much bigger form. "So what do you think?"

"I think it's a great idea, but we're going to have to do it very carefully and quietly if only because of Strauss," Hotch said. "Strauss would love to be able to get rid of me, because as you know she hates my guts. So far, I haven't given her an excuse to do so, but if our marriage gets out that would give her the excuse she has been looking for."

"I don't need anything big, or with a lot of frills," Spencer said, "even just a commitment ceremony would be enough for me. Something small, but with a lot of meaning. I don't need a lot of people to see me pledge myself to you, so just having the team and my brothers there would be enough for me."

"I would like to invite my 28 siblings as they also know how to keep quiet, but I don't know how we're going to coordinate something like that as we can't afford to ask for any days off at the same time. I don't think it's manageable considering how we can be called to duty at a moment's notice, so it's going to have to be something really small and simple. Unfortunately, my siblings are spread out all over the country and the only one I'm sure that can make it is Sean because he's in New York, which is only a few hours by train and maybe Jackie, Benji and Rebecca, but that's all I'm relatively sure about. A lot of them just can't take off at a moment's notice to come to my wedding or commitment ceremony as they have their careers to think about. Still, they would understand about us having a ceremony and why we didn't want to do a big one with the whole family there, one that's planned months in advance so the invited guest have plenty of notice to take the time off."

"Maybe we should wait until your family can make it," Spencer suggested. "I certainly want my brothers there if at all possible, so I don't blame you if you want all your siblings there as well."

"No, I'm afraid with Strauss being the way she is we can't give our invited guests to much advanced warning. A monkey wrench is likely to be thrown into any complicated plans we try to make. We'll catch a case for instance, or something else will happen that will prevent us from having the ceremony on the day we planned, so it's just better not to make plans to far in advance. If we had a more understanding section chief, one that didn't have a grudge against me in particular, then it would be possible, but since we don't we'll just have to make do."

"Just the team then," said Spencer disappointed, although he certainly understood the point that Aaron had made.

"I'm sorry we can't have the type of ceremony we want," Hotch told Spencer genuinely sympathetic. "Believe me, if I thought it was possible without at least one of us possibly losing our jobs and I would move heaven and Earth give it to you."

"I know," Spencer told Aaron with a smile that we stall the way to his eyes. "I know you would, but you're not Superman and I realize that. I'm a little disappointed that we can't have the type of ceremony we both want, because of certain work complications, but I do understand."

"You do realize that we won't be able to wear rings that look like wedding bands," Hotch added after a moment as the thought had just occurred to him. "If we do wear rings, they need to not look like wedding bands, because Strauss is bound to see them eventually even if it doesn't happen for awhile and she'll be suspicious."

"So we'll just buy rings that don't look like wedding bands," Spencer said with a shrug, "It's the lifetime commitment to each other that I'm really looking forward to and the rings are just extra packaging. I know they are tradition, but we don't have to go with tradition if we don't want to."

"Well, we have awhile to discuss the details, although I would like to get it done before our pups are born as that will give them legitimacy and I would also like to get this business with your father and the Las Vegas pack out of way, before we think to seriously about having a commitment ceremony. It's not that I want to delay it, it's just that we have a few other things we need to take care of first. Believe me, I want nothing more then to let people know of our commitment to each other," Hotch said hugging Spencer close to him.

"I know we have a few things to deal with first before we can have what we both want and believe me, I'm looking forward to it, but I can wait as long as it takes to finish our business with my father just so long as I know you feel the same way," Spencer explained.

"I do," Hotch said. He was proud of his mate for being so patient, understanding and accepting as most young people tended to be rather impatience in general, but in the two years he had known Spencer, he had never been that way, but then considering he had used to be a pickpocket who had to have patience in order to not be caught that wasn't surprising. Luckily, those days were behind Spencer and his brothers now and thanks to them having each other all three of them had survived, which was practically miraculous considering the odds of that happening.

However, that didn't mean Hotch wasn't grateful that Spencer had survived, miraculous or not, as they never would have met otherwise and he would've gone through the rest of his life never knowing that part of his heart was missing. "Meeting you is the best thing that's ever happened to me in my life and having a commitment or wedding ceremony, is just icing on the cake. Like you I'm looking forward to it and I can't wait for other people to see our commitment to each other," Hotch said truthfully.

"Alright then," Spencer said his voice steady, even as he felt a nice warm glow in his chest at his mate's words to him, because he knew Aaron meant then and that he was truly looking forward to making a formal commitment to him Spencer Reid just as he was to Aaron Hotchner. "If we have to wait six months or even a year to have that ceremony then we will, but hopefully, it won't be that long."

"It shouldn't be more than a few months, unless something unforeseen comes up," Hotch said. "I would say no more than two, maybe three."

"If we can actually pull it off in that short amount of time then I'll be amazed," Spencer said.

"Why?" Hotch asked just a little confused.

"Ever heard of Murphy's Law?" Spencer asked quite seriously

"Oh, you mean the one where anything that can go wrong will go wrong?" asked Hotch.

"Exactly!" exclaimed Spencer. "Call me a pessimist, but things you don't expect can go wrong and likely will before we actually do tie the Knot, whether that's in three months like you suggested or a year from now."

"Hopefully not," Hotch said.

"We'll see," Spencer said noncommittally.

"Don't be such a pessimist!" Hotch exclaimed kissing him on the cheek. "If something goes wrong we'll handle it and even if we don't get married for a year, we'll still be together in that way."

"I've always been something of a pessimist," Spencer admitted, "although I will admit that I've been so happy in the last couple of years that I haven't felt very pessimistic recently. Being a pessimist and suspicious of everyone is what kept me and my brothers out of trouble as we were always watching out for any danger to us. Like for instance some adult who was suspicious because we were three children without adult supervision in sight or something more serious."

"Being suspicious is not necessarily a bad thing, as it means your instincts for people trying to bullshit you or who are out to get you are more finely tuned than most peoples," Hotch said approvingly. "It's certainly a useful talent to have when you have a very dangerous job, as it makes it harder for suspects to lie to you, if you take everything said with a grain of salt. I'm not saying it's impossible for someone to get past your bullshit detector, just that it's much harder then if you didn't have your suspicious nature."

"Yes, it's definitely a useful talent to have," Spencer agreed. "After all, we can't rely on our sense of smell alone, although that's also useful, since every human has certain bodily reactions that aren't really detectable to a human's nose."

"Trust me, its a good thing to be a little suspicious until you get to know somebody and it's a particularly useful skill to have in the FBI, particularly our unit," Hotch said.

"I know it, and I use it on the near constant basis whenever we're on a case," Spencer agreed.

"So do I, as I have a very suspicious nature to, and I take everything a suspect says with a grain of salt just like you do. Until proven otherwise they're guilty, even though I know the government's policy is innocent until proven guilty," Hotch said.

The two men continued to talk for a few minutes before Spencer led the way upstairs Hotch following with a smirk, knowing exactly what was in his mate's mind and he wasn't about to object.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	14. Chapter 14

Part 14

"So the two of you are going on vacation together?" asked Morgan in astonishment.

"Yes, what of it?" Spencer asked Morgan with a placid look on his face. "I want to show Aaron where I grew up and I haven't had a vacation ever since I started at the BAU over two years ago and I think it's about time that I take one."

"And I haven't had one in longer than that," Hotch said.

"Personally, I think they both deserve it," Emily chipped in.

Emily Prentiss was a relatively new member of the BAU team and replaced the much missed talents of Elle. Emily had only been part of the team for a few months and had been just as surprised as the others when she learned of Hotch's and Spencer's relationship, but had accepted it with no problem.

"I didn't say they didn't deserve it I was just surprised that they were going on vacation together," Morgan defending himself.

"I'll tell you what you thought," Spencer said with a mischievous twinkle in his golden brown eyes. "You thought, despite what Aaron I told you over a year ago now, that I would come to my senses by now and dump Aaron like a hot potato. You still refuse to believe that I could love him and think of it is just a phase I'm going through. You don't trust me, to make decisions for myself or to know my own feelings and you haven't said anything, but it's been obvious that you've been looking for signs that we've been fighting with each other, so that you can swoop in and supposedly protect me."

"Is that really what you think, Morgan?" JJ asked laughing at the big black man who looked rather sheepish that he had been caught in the act. "I can see from your expression it is, but even though you won't admit it, you know that the two of them love each other and it's not just a phase they are going through and that they aren't about to end their relationship."

"Actually, we were talking about having a commitment or wedding ceremony, sometime in the next six months or so," Hotch chipped in. He tried not to chuckle at Morgan's very sheepish body language, as that would be cruel and he might be rather annoyed at Morgan at the moment, but he wasn't a cruel man for the most art anyway.

"It's going to be small, with just my brothers and hopefully, some of Hotch's siblings as well and you guys," Spencer said. "We're not doing the big fancy wedding thing, because not only do we need to keep it small and quiet because of Strauss, neither one of us sees the point of a big expensive ceremony."

"Oh! That's terrific!" Garcia who had been silent up until now squealed happily. Garcia had said nothing as Morgan was embarrassed at having his thoughts so easily read. Personally, she kind of felt he deserved to have his ego taken down a peg or two, because he had been so sure that Spencer would come to his senses and dump Hotch, even though she had told him the possibility of that was zero as she had seen how much Hotch and her baby loved each other. Still, Morgan was so sure of himself as he couldn't stand the fact that the young man that he considered a little brother was with not only someone much older than him, but another man no less. It wasn't that Morgan was prejudiced, it was just that he had been shocked to discover their relationship, which was one of the main reasons he kept insisting that it was only a phase Reid was going through and that he'd come to his senses, which would never happen. "I'm so happy for the two of you!"

"Thank you," Hotch told Garcia with half a smile as he glanced over at Spencer who was sitting beside him. Spencer for his part practically glowed at the mention of the commitment cum wedding ceremony that he and Aaron wanted to have. Morgan seeing his friend's happiness realized that his and Hotch's relationship was indeed permanent, because while he thought that Reid was just going through a phase he knew his friend well enough to know that he wouldn't be talking about a commitment cum wedding ceremony if the relationship was on the rocks. Or if he didn't truly love Aaron Hotchner for he was far to sensible to do something like that unless he was sure. Besides, as much as he hated to admit it Hotch was an honorable man and not the type to force the issue.

"I hope you realize now Morgan, that I'm not going through a phase," Spencer admonished his friend gently, but with steel beneath his tone. "You are the only hold out, as even Gideon eventually came to accept mine and Aaron's relationship. You told me back when you first found out that you were okay with it so long as I was happy and trust me, I'm still very happy with Aaron and as I told you back then as well I don't see that ever changing."

"Alright, I admit I was wrong," Morgan said guiltily. "I truly believed you were just going through a phase and that you'd get over it and move on."

"I know what you thought Morgan," Spencer told his friend not unsympathetically. "Believe me, you made it more than obvious with the way you've been hovering over me. I hope now you'll stop doing that, because it's getting rather annoying."

"And why did you say anything before?" asked Morgan.

"Would it have done any good?" asked Spencer with the mischievous twinkling is eyes. "I understood why you were doing it, and therefore, I put up with it."

Emily listened to the conversation, but remained silent as she knew that while she was accepted she was still a new member of the team and so she didn't want to create waves until she was sure of her place. Hotch had only accepted her she had learned at Spencer's urging to give her a chance to prove herself and she would be forever grateful to the young man for that. She had been somewhat surprised to learn that such a young man was a member of such a prestigious unit as he was only 25 and had already been one for two years before she had joined which meant he had joined the team at 23.

However, while she had been skeptical as to his placement on the team she had since learned that he was a genuine genius and knew more facts and trivia than anybody she had ever met and his eidetic memory didn't hurt either. Reid had truly earned his place on the team a long time ago and Emily was slowly coming to accept that. She had learned that it was Gideon that had found Reid when he was lecturing at MIT and immediately urged him to join the FBI and offered him a place with the BAU, when he had learned what a genius he was. She knew without having to be told that Jason Gideon had pulled numerous strings to get Spencer Reid into the BAU without going the normal career route, but he had since proved Gideon's faith in him and continued to do so.

The thing was that Emily had been prepared to hate him, simply because she'd had to work her butt off to get into the BAU and he hadn't. She resented the fact that a position in the most prestigious unit had just been handed to someone who was only in his early 20s and straight out of college. She had felt that Reid was a deadweight and that somebody with a lot of power like her mother had used it to get him on it. She had quickly learned that Spencer Reid was not a deadweight and she was very glad she had never voiced that opinion out loud. She had also learned not to judge someone until she had actually met them and that was definitely one of the hardest lessons she had ever learned in her life. She'd knew she had nearly been rejected just because of who her mother was, and that it was thanks to Reid that she was a member of the team, even if she was on probationary status, so for that alone she'd been prepared to give him a break and not voice her opinion that she believed he was a deadweight. Now, she was glad for her restraint for it turned out that he was a genuinely nice guy, despite being a genius and that she actually liked the quiet young man a great deal.

A great many super intelligent people tended to want to make as big a splash as possible, but Reid just quietly went about changing the world without being an arrogant ass like a lot of geniuses were. In fact, Spencer Reid was probably one of the least arrogant men she had ever met and she thought it was truly a shame that he was taken and by another, a man no less. She wouldn't have minded trying her luck with him at some point, but she knew now that she was never going to get a chance to see what dating him would be like if he and her new boss were talking about having a commitment ceremony and possibly a wedding, so she was just going to have to look elsewhere.

"Alright! Alright! I'll try to quit hovering!" Morgan exclaimed. "I realize now that it's your life and so long as you're happy I'll try my best not to be so overprotective anymore."

"Good," Spencer said pleased. "It's not necessarily a bad thing to be overprotective you just need to tone it down and quit trying to smother me in cotton wool as Aaron does enough of that already."

Spencer's tone of voice was teasing when he said that last sentence and so everybody knew he was joking.

"Well, as you said been a bit overprotective isn't a bad thing," Hotch said by way of a comeback his expression completely deadpan before a smile broke out on his face to let everybody know that he was teasing.

"No, it's not, as I'm just as protective of you, even if I know you're capable of taking care of yourself," Spencer agreed.

"So back to what you mentioned a few minutes ago about taking a vacation," Garcia said. "When you you plan to do that?"

"As soon as the two of us can arrange our leave separately, but for the same time period," Hotch answered immediately. "I for one am looking forward to it, because as much as I love my work, everybody needs a break now and then and I haven't had a vacation in longer than I care to recall."

"You know, Hotch you've really changed a lot in the last year," JJ mentioned with a smile. "You've loosened up considerably and I suspect it's a certain young man that has caused you to do that."

"Actually, it's been longer than that," Garcia said suddenly, "we just didn't notice it for awhile because it started out so subtly. It's been at least a year and a half, possibly maybe even a few months before that."

"Yeah, you're right, Hotch you used to be very intense and spend a lot of time in the office doing paperwork, when we weren't working on a specific, case, but now you usually head home at the end of the day and don't stay for hours after your shift is over anymore or at least not as often," Morgan agreed.

"Oh, I suspect he has better things to do with his time now," JJ teased Hotch lightly who chuckled in return.

"Oh, I do," Hotch agreed immediately and confidently not at all embarrassed in the least as he glanced in Spencer's direction and saw that his mate was already starting to blush. When he and Spencer got home from work, they usually spent a little time with their pups and the rest of it in bed. They usually spent at least two or three hours making love, with breaks for food in between and Hotch usually lost count of how many times he made Spencer scream his name before the both of them were finally sated and satisfied. Hotch didn't see their ritual changing anytime soon, because while they now shared a hotel room while they were out of town on a case they didn't usually have sex, although sometimes they did. Hotel room walls were notoriously thin and Spencer didn't want anybody else to hear him scream or whimper in pleasure because people would know what they had been doing. As for him while it didn't embarrass him for other people to know what the two of them had been doing Hotch knew very well that it did embarrass the shy Omega who considered their relationship a private thing, while he wanted to shout it to the world. Hotch didn't care if the team or even total strangers knew what he and Spencer had been doing as he adored making love to his mate and always would. Besides, the wolf in him was a bit of an exhibitionist and wanted everybody to know that Spencer Reid was his and so they had better not even think they had right to him as anything other than a friend or acquaintance and this was the wolf's way of publicly stating his claim upon his mate. Spencer hadn't wanted to make love in a hotel room at first, especially not with his friends and teammates on either side of him, but Hotch had gently convinced him, as he knew exactly how to stoke the fires of his mate's passion and soon he made his, Spencer forget all about the fact that they were in a hotel room and not their own bedroom at home. Oh, Spencer was embarrassed afterwards for he tended to be really loud while in the midst of passion and he knew that it was very likely that the team who often had rooms on either side of their own had heard him lose it. One time he remembered Morgan shooting him a look that said he knew exactly what the two of them had been doing. He had just grinned smugly and confidently in return until the big black man had been forced to look away with the look of disapproval on his face. Making love to his mate while working was a pretty rare event usually because either they were too tired or they were too busy trying to catch their current unsub to have time for it, but occasionally it did happen.

"Aaron!" Spencer protested his face a brilliant red.

"What?" Hotch protested innocently, although he knew he would pay for embarrassing Spencer later, but it would be well worth it he knew.

Emily watched the byplay quietly, but said nothing as she concentrated on her salad, which was all she had ordered for herself for lunch.

"Oh, come on, Spence, it's nothing to be embarrassed about," JJ told her friend with a smile. "It's not if we don't all know what you and Hotch to get up to in the privacy of your own home."

"There's a very big difference between knowing something intellectually and having it confirmed," Spencer told her while glaring at Hotch, who totally ignored the look and then had the atrocity to look smug.

Finally Spencer turned away from glaring at his mate and just concentrated on his nice big juicy steak, that he had ordered for himself. He had found out ever since he and Aaron had gotten together that it was only natural for the wolf in him to crave steak as rare as possible.

In fact Aaron had told him, that steak was a big part of a wolf's diet and while they needed other things starches, carbohydrates and the like in order to maintain their bodies as well a wolf tended to eat a lot of steak as rare as it could possibly be cooked and not be raw.

Spencer had not known this, although he remembered craving the steak or roast beef sandwiches that were served at the sandwich place in the mall where he and his brothers had often picked pockets years ago, but not wanting to waste the money he had his brothers had so carefully gathered on such a thing and so he had suppressed it. He and his brothers had been denied so many simple pleasures and all because of one man.

Spencer mentally shook his head and realized that his father had not taught him or Dylan or Trev a single thing about what it meant to be a werewolf like to love the forest for example, although luckily, they had been seven when he had left so they had already learned to love the forest all on their own, but still the man whose genes they shared hadn't taught them so many things that it was vital for them to know in order not to make a major snafu within the pack and possibly get themselves into trouble, although their age would have protected them from many of the consequences.

Spencer was actually looking forward to dealing with Mack Burke if he was still alive or more accurately letting Aaron deal with him. Also he was looking forward to Aaron dealing with his father as well and he was surprised that he didn't feel the slightest bit of remorse for what was going to happen to the man whose genes he shared, so even if William Reid didn't yet know it he was now a walking dead man. This thought pleased the wolf within him and also his human half, although he would never voice these feelings. Normally, he was a man of intelligence, patience and understanding, but he also realized that thanks to the wolf that was part of his makeup, when certain situations arose his normal responses were going to be tempered with the violence that was part of the wolf's nature. Betrayal, especially of someone who was related by blood, in other words, family was one thing that led to the animal part of him responding like a wounded animal and wanting to retaliate, even if that was through an intermediary like Aaron. Wolves didn't take betrayal by a family member very well, someone who was part of it's pack, it's family unit and Spencer was just learning that even though he was an Omega with a usually gentle, mild and forgiving personality that he could be very angry and ferocious when the situation called for it and dealing with his father permanently was definitely one of those rare times. The man that he and his brothers shared half their genes from had betrayed his own blood in one of the worst possible ways and there was only one way for the wolf within him to respond to that betrayal and that was with swift vengeance and justice.

Spencer remembered Aaron sitting him down one day, shortly after they had gotten together and explaining about how he was going to deal with his father's betrayal and of him protesting that it wasn't really necessary to kill him. Aaron had then been nice enough to explain exactly how a wolf dealt with the betrayal of one of it's own blood, even if it didn't happen for years because the ones betrayed were pups and had no one to defend them. For somebody who was a wolf to betray his own family like William Reid had done, was one of the worst possible crimes that could be committed by one of their kind as normally a wolf was always loyal to its pack, but especially to its own family. Spencer remembered being surprised that the wolf within him agreed with everything his mate was telling him and feeling that it was not only necessary, but the right thing to do.

Finally he remembered agreeing once Aaron once again promised him that he wouldn't do anything permanent if his father had happened to find his Lifemate.

Since he had learned so much more about his species then he had ever known before in the last couple of years he knew what Aaron was planning to do to his father was the only thing that could be done and technically, should have been dealt with years ago, by an intermediary who should have protected him and his two brothers who had after all had done nothing wrong, by seeing the situation was dealt with as their laws dictated. The human part of him didn't like it, but the wolf within him definitely approved and so Spencer had had to find some kind of balance between the two and eventually he had.

"So you have brothers?" Emily asked Spencer changing the subject.

"Yes, two," Spencer answered, "Trevyn and Dylan."

"So are they older or younger or both?" asked Emily next.

"They are the same age as me actually, as we're triplets," Spencer answered, "and no we're not identical. However, if you want to get technical I'm older by about five minutes to Dylan and then Trev is the youngest by three minutes."

"Wow! You're one of triplets?" asked Emily amazed, knowing that having three babies at once was pretty rare, especially back when Spencer had been born.

"They run in my family at least that's what mom told me," Spencer said with a nonchalant shrug which was technically true as werewolves had multiple pups all the time and it was a rare event when a female wolf didn't get pregnant with at least twins. A werewolf having multiples was way different from a human having them, because for a werewolf, especially if it two of them who were married multiples were the norm instead of the exception. Humans could have multiples to, but it was a much rarer event, especially for triplets or other higher order multiples, although twins were quite common in what was now the 21st century.

"Still, I don't believe I've ever met someone who has two other siblings who are the same age," Emily said.

"You might have and you just don't know it as there are currently 4,364 sets of triplets just in the United States that are still alive," Spencer said shrugging giving the number right off the top of his head. "Of course, considerably more twins are born then triplets or higher order multiples so the number is much higher."

And that number didn't include werewolves, as triplets were very normal when a werewolf got pregnant, so the number was considerably higher if you factored them in, Spencer added silently in his head because if you did factor in werewolf pups the numbers of twins and other multiples doubled, maybe even tripled.

"Of course, that's in the United States and not the rest of world, so if you factored in other countries the number goes up considerably. Some countries have a much higher rate of twinning then others like Africa."

"And if you add in fertility treatments..." JJ chipped in.

"Yes, a lot of twins, triplets or more are the result from fertility treatments or IVF it as is commonly known, however, that is not the case with my mother as she had me and my two brothers totally naturally, which is pretty rare actually," Spencer said.

It wasn't rare among werewolves of course, but nobody else at the table knew that such things existed except for his mate Aaron Hotchner.

"Well, I had no idea I would spark off such a discourse," Emily snarked playfully causing the others, even Aaron to chuckle.

"Well, you should have realized that the subject of multiples was always going to fascinate someone like me who happens to have two brothers, with all three of us being born within just minutes of each other, so of course, I would find the subject fascinating. I know all kinds of facts, about twins, triplets and more."

"You find facts in general fascinating, pretty boy," Morgan teased his friend.

"Maybe so, but multiple births has always been a special interest of mine," Reid told Morgan giving him a look.

"So what about you, Hotch? I believe you mentioned siblings earlier," JJ asked.

"I never knew you had any since you don't ever talk about them," Morgan said. "I mean I talk about my two sisters back in Chicago all the time."

"Well, it's not exactly a state secret," Hotch said his tone teasing, "I guess I just never brought them up that's all. I have quite a few and we could be here for the next couple of hours at least while I told you all about them, but just so you know like Spencer I am the oldest of multiples, except sextuplets in this case."

"Wow! There are five others of you out there?" asked Garcia in astonishment for she had not known this. She may be the queen of the super information highway, but she didn't go digging into her teammates personal lives as that would have been extremely rude at the very least as people did deserve their privacy after all. Besides, they were her friends and if Hotch had wanted her to know about his siblings he would've said something and that's all there was to it.

"Yes, there is, except in my case I have three brother and two sisters that were all born at the same time," Hotch said with a shrug.

"Any other siblings?" asked JJ curiously.

"Oh, lots, because as I said we could be here for the next couple of hours while I told you all about them, but we need to get back to work," Hotch ordered and the team took that as the hint it was and that it was time to throw their plates from their meals away and get back to the BAU.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

"Garcia, I need a favor," Spencer told the technical analyst as soon as he had walked into her office.

"What's the favor, Junior G Man?" asked Garcia curiously.

"First before I tell you I want you to promise that you won't mention it to any one of the team except for Hotch as knows what I'm going to ask you. It's just some personal business that the others don't need to know about and I'll tell them if I feel it's necessary," Spencer said seeing Garcia hesitate moment.

"Alright, I promise," Garcia said finally.

"Good I need you to backtrack as much of my father movement as you can for the last 18 or so years," Spencer began.

"Why?" asked Garcia curiously.

"Aaron and I believe, that my father might have had a few children while still married to my mother and afterwards. Considering that we discovered that he already has quite a few children by another woman, some of whom were born before my mother died when I was 18. I managed to find some information and some newspaper articles on the woman he's married to now who's name is Lynda Boyle-Reid, and I believe that all the children she has including the ones that were born before my mother's suicide are his. However, I'm not half as good at computers as you are and what I found was all surface information and easy to discover. You, however, know how to really dig deep. I just want to know if I have anymore half siblings then the ones that belong to my father's second wife."

"Oh, you flatterer," Garcia gushed getting out of her chair to give her baby a hug, which he returned. "Of course, I'll help you discover if you have anymore half siblings out there. I'll be happy to, especially since bossman already knows you were going to ask."

"Of course, he does," Spencer promised her with a grin. "Aaron is my life as you are aware, even if he's also technically, my boss and I would never keep something so important from him. He's actually the one that suggested that I ask you if you could do some digging for me, so I can find out if I have anymore half siblings out there."

"Yes, I was aware that the two of you loved each other and I tried to tell Morgan that it wasn't just a phase you were going through, but we both know that he can be incredibly stubborn. Morgan was so sure that you would come to your senses in a few months, but then a year passed and Hotch and you were still a couple."

"I knew precisely what Morgan was thinking, as it was pretty obvious that he was expecting me and Aaron to break up at some point, but I guarantee you it's never going to happen," Spencer said.

"I know," Garcia said in an awed voice. "I know true love when I see it, and both of you have that aura around you. What you two have is rare and special and that's what I told Morgan when he kept insisting that you'd come to your senses. Morgan, of course, didn't believe me, and didn't see that you really loved each other because he didn't want to."

"Well, at least we got all that straightened out and Morgan has finally quit hovering over me," Spencer said with a wary grin. "I'm actually surprised that he didn't try to follow Hotch and me around, you know like surveillance."

"I don't think Morgan would actually go that far," Garcia said automatically and then thought about it. "Oh, yes, he would, especially if he believed that he was protecting you. Sorry, I wasn't thinking when I said that. The only reason he probably didn't follow you is he knew that Hotch would've spotted the tail and then give him hell about it later."

"Yeah, that's true, Aaron isn't the type to take that kind of thing laying down, as he is a very in charge type person and he is Morgan's boss. Morgan definitely would've been in deep trouble over it and as much as I would feel sorry for him it would be deserved," Spencer said thoughtfully. "He might even have lost his job over it and while Morgan is many things, he is not stupid."

"In any case, I'll look up your father and start to track his movements, and I should have information for you in a few hours, especially since your father William Reid wasn't trying to hide, which means his movements should be easy to track," Garcia promised.

"Thanks, for doing this for me," Spencer told his friend.

"You're more than welcome, sweetie," Garcia said.

The two of them talked for a few more minutes before Spencer left to head back to the bullpen.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	15. Chapter 15

Part 15

"So here we are," Spencer said looking around at the desert countryside of Las Vegas as Hotch sped away from the airport where he and Aaron had just disembarked from their flight, gotten their luggage and then rented a car. "We are getting ready to bead the lion in it's den."

"Well, that expression is certainly appropriate, though you should have said wolf considering," Hotch said with a ferocious grin.

"So, how are we going to contact the local pack without letting the Alpha know at least until we determine if it's the same one or not?" asked Spencer. "I'm assuming you have a plan to accomplish that?"

"First let us check into hotel and then I have something to tell you," Hotch said

Hotch knew that Spencer would be relieved at what Rolf had told him just recently once he got over his initial anger that is, but he wanted to be somewhere private before he told his mate the news and definitely didn't want to be behind the wheel of a car.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm not going to like what you have to say?" asked Spencer turning to stare at his mate

"Oh, you'll love it, it's just a bit shocking," Hotch temporized. What he had said wasn't a complete lie, because when Rolf had called him just a week ago to tell him that he had been forging ties with the Las Vegas pack and why he had done so, well, he had been truly shocked because he had no idea that Rolf had been forging ties with Spencer's old pack, but once he had gotten over his shock he was glad as it made his and Spencer's job much easier and in fact the new Alpha of the pack Terry Pulley was expecting them and knew why they were coming. Hotch was very disappointed that he wouldn't be able to deal with Mack Burke himself as he had been looking forward to putting the old Alpha to death for what he had done to his mate and his brothers, but it also made their mission much easier. Well, at least he could still deal with Spencer's former father and that would just have to be enough, since Mack Burke was dead his ashes scattered on the wind.

The rest of the ride to the hotel was silent and once the two of them had checked in and gone to their room, Spencer immediately demanded to know what Hotch was hiding from him.

"Watch your tone, pup," Hotch growled, although he wasn't really angry, because he certainly understood the emotions Spencer was feeling at the moment. In fact, he could feel what Spencer was feeling, which was due to the bond and that was worry probably about the current situation and also about him, acceptance of what was about to occur and determination to stand beside him and not show how afraid he was. However, he was still the Alpha of their little partnership and therefore, he had to make sure that his mate knew he was in charge.

"Sorry," Spencer said hanging his head in shame and baring his neck in a gesture of submission to the stronger wolf. When he felt the genuine contriteness, shame and remorse in his mate's emotions and with the baring of the Omega's neck Hotch relaxed, because it meant Spencer had realized what he had done was wrong for it was what a wolf did when he submitted to a stronger one. From Reid's posture Hotch could tell that if he was in his wolf form at the moment his ears would be back against his skull and his head would be hanging even lower and he'd be on his belly until he was sure he was forgiven. Because they were both in human form at the moment the baring of the neck was enough as it showed contrition, shame and genuine remorse. The offering of his neck, could mean a few things and one was Hotch could legally tear his throat out for being disrespectful or at least give him a good nip so that he would have a bruise as a reminder to be respectful at all times at least until it healed in a day or so. However, since Hotch realized that Spencer had been under a lot of pressure lately, especially when he knew that they were coming to Las Vegas soon to deal with the man who had been his father, well, an apology in this case was more than enough, especially since he knew it was genuine. Besides, in this case ripping Spencer's throat out was not an option since the two of them were Lifemates and the crime wasn't serious enough to warrant it in any case. He could however, give him a good nip, but since Spencer had immediately apologized and meant it Hotch let it go. Besides, he well understood the pressure in his mate had been under.

"It's okay," Hotch soothed instantly kissing him on the side of the neck to let his mate know that he was forgiven. He pulled Spencer onto his lap from where he was sitting beside him on the couch that was part of the hotel room and Spencer relaxed immediately because he knew he was forgiven, for his momentary lack of respect to the stronger Alpha, who was also his mate. "I don't expect you to be perfect all the time, and usually when it happens all you need is a reminder of who's in charge to make you realize that your tone of voice is inappropriate."

"Still, I am sorry," Spencer told his mate ashamed of himself snapping at the man he adored, just because he was anxious for information. He leaned up to kiss Aaron on the lips, which Hotch immediately accepted with pleasure, which caused Reid to totally relax because he knew he was completely forgiven. Luckily, Aaron wasn't one to hold a grudge and once he had shown proper contriteness and shame for his tone of voice or whatever else he had done he was immediately forgiven.

"I know, and you're forgiven," Hotch said.

The two men sat in silence for awhile and then Spencer asked a little tentatively, "So what did you have to tell me that you refused to say in the car?"

"Well, apparently without me being aware of it until a few days ago Rolf has been forging ties with your old pack," Hotch began and held Spencer tighter when he felt his mate stiffen in outrage and shock.

"What!? Why would Rolf do that?" Spencer asked his tone angry, but also astonished.

"Well, technically, it's the pack Alpha's prerogative to forge ties with anther pack if he so desires," Hotch explained. "Now, I had no idea that Rolf had been doing this until less than a week ago, when he called me and told me what he had done. It turns out that Mack Burke is dead as he was taken care of by the pack and they now have a new Alpha."

Spencer was silent as he absorbed the news and a lot of the worry, anger and fear in his emotions disappeared which pleased Hotch a great deal.

Once Hotch with sure that Spencer had come to terms with the piece of news he had just been told he continued, "Apparently, Burke's been dead, for about five years and from the sketchy details that Rolf was able to get out of the Alpha his death was not pleasant."

"Wow! That's a relief," Spencer said his eyelids blinking rapidly. "I'm glad Burke is dead, and now we only have my father to deal with."

"Yes, that's true, but I'm very disappointed that I didn't get a chance to deal with the Alpha that threw at least three pups out of the pack, though it could have been more for all we know, but on the other hand, it's a good thing," Hotch said.

"So what's the new Alpha's name?" asked Spencer.

"Terry Pulley apparently he was only about 16, when you were made an outcast, which would make him about 35 or so now. He was apparently elected after the old Alpha was put to death."

"Yes, I remember him quite clearly, as he looked like he wanted to protest the three of us being made outcasts, but he didn't. Then again he was only 16 or 17, at that time as you said and Burke was much older and more experienced and technically, Terry would've still been a child until he turned 18."

"If he had he likely would have faced the same fate or even been killed, considering he was nearly an adult as Burke at least from all Rolf could find out was quite the tyrant and not only territorial, but willing to punish his pack members for the slightest infractions and especially those that questioned his authority."

Spencer snorted at that and immediately agreed.

"Alright, so Rolf forged ties with Terry Pulley the new leader of the Las Vegas pack, and so I'm assuming he's expecting our arrival," Spencer said more calmly with certainty despite the way he had worded his sentence.

"He is, and he also knows why we have made the trip," Hotch said to feel that his mate's emotions had calmed down.

"So I suspect we can expect a warmer welcome then what we were originally anticipating," said Spencer.

"Yes, and apparently Terry wants to welcome you back to the pack, or at least that's what Rolf said, so we can indeed expect a warm welcome," Hotch agreed.

"I very much doubt that I'll ever be comfortable as part of my hometown pack like I am with the one back home," Spencer said. "After all, it's the same pack where nobody stepped forward to defend three 7 year olds who had committed no crimes and yet were still made outcasts. Intellectually I understand that nobody wanted to challenge Burke as he was a pretty tough Alpha and could have beaten several werewolves at one time, but still I doubt very much I'll ever be comfortable within this particular pack again, except maybe for short visits and only if you are with me. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever come back here unless it's on the case for neither me or my brothers have anymore remaining ties to Las Vegas."

The phrase back home was very telling to somebody with Hotch's trained ear and he knew it meant that Spencer now considered Washington DC his home and and also Quantico in Virginia where he worked and the pack there was now his family and also the team, not Las Vegas or the pack that resided in it. Hotch couldn't really blame his mate either considering what had happened when he was just a child.

"You might want to come back and visit your half siblings," Hotch suggested. "I would think you'd want to forge some kind of relationship with them, especially since your father soon won't be around to interfere."

"Well, possibly," Spencer admitted looking thoughtful. "Well, see how it goes before I make any final decisions on that subject. You know my father's wife Lynda might not want me anywhere around as after all my mate is about to kill her husband."

"Yes, we'll see how it goes," Hotch agreed. "I really would like you to have some kind of relationship with your half siblings if at all possible. Of course, I realize that it might not be possible at all, as your father's wife does have the right to forbid you from being around her pups if she so desires, even if you are their half brother, but usually family is important to the pack and that includes half siblings."

"Well, as we've already discussed that Lynda might very well be human and therefore, she might not feel any loyalty to the pack or hold with their beliefs. Just because a human is married to a werewolf does not mean that they know pack laws and traditions, though I know they learn enough, so that they're comfortable within the pack or embrace them if they do know. I don't remember Lynda Boyle as being part of the pack when I was a pup before I was thrown out of it and from what I could find on the Internet she's apparently lived in Las Vegas all her life and so therefore, she is very likely human."

"Yes, you're right," Hotch immediately agreed.

"I would love to get to know my half brothers and sisters including the ones that were just born, but I'm not getting my hopes up until we see how it goes with my father. Of course, I know it's possible that Lynda Boyle-Reid is a very nice lady, but I'm not going to form an opinion until I actually meet her, because reading something about them in the paper or elsewhere or listening to someone else's opinion can only tell you so much," Spencer said,

"And opinions often aren't accurate as they can be colored with what people think of that person, which is why it's an opinion and not fact," Hotch added.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Spencer agreed, as he snuggled into Hotch's chest and Hotch was more than happy to hold the slender body of his mate gently, but protectively.

Lynda had indeed given birth to quadruplets just last month, three girls and a boy, which made the children she had an even dozen.

"You know we kind of came up here at the worst possible time as Lynda likely hasn't completely recovered from the birth and she now has newborn quadruplets to look after. Actually, I'm sure they hired someone, probably several someone's to do that since she does work, just as you did for your eight."

"I'm sure that some of the woman in the pack are happy to look after her pups, while she does work," Hotch said, "as that's usually how it is done in a werewolf pack. All the females that aren't married or working and even some that are married chip in, since usually about a third of the pack is pups of various ages. Some of the pups that are above a certain age also help out with the ones that are younger and it's part of their responsibilities. Of course, there's always plenty of adult supervision as well."

"That seems like a good system," Spencer said approvingly, "Teach pups above a certain age responsibility by having them help look after the children younger than they are and of course, those lessons will also come in handy later when they have pups of their own."

"Yeah, of course, that's not why werewolves do it, it's just kind of an added bonus. Mainly we have the older pups look after the younger ones to teach them responsibility, but that second thing you mentioned does come in handy when they're married and have pups of their own just as you suggested. So it's kind of a win/win situation and teaches them valuable lessons as well as responsibility."

"Wow! Some of you werewolves are devious," Spencer said admiringly. "I bet you that those pups never realize that while they are helping look after the pups it is teaching them valuable lessons that will stand in a good stead later in life."

"Nope! Most of them never realize it until they are grown up and have pups of their own and it's only then they realize that they learned all this stuff while helping look after all the young pups that are born," Hotch chuckled. "I mean there is usually anywhere from 50 to 100 pups running around at one time and that doesn't even include the ones that are too young to walk. I mean werewolves have anywhere from twins to six at one time so is it any wonder that at least a third of any wolfpack is pups?"

"Well, as pleasant as this is I suppose we should go get something to eat and then go see Terry Pulley," Spencer said reluctant to move.

"You don't have to worry about that for tonight, as we have an appointment with him tomorrow morning at 10 AM sharp at Alexis Gardens Restaurant," Hotch said. "It was set up by Rolf beforehand, apparently he really wanted to help both of us, although he didn't mention what he was doing as I said until a few days ago."

"Well, I'm grateful to him even if we both know I was feeling furious at him for at least a few minutes. I suppose it just shocked me that Rolf had done that and hadn't mentioned it to either one of us. I mean I understand his reasoning and that he's allowed to do that as Alpha of the Virginia Pack, but he could've showed our hand and then we might not have been able to do what I know you want to and that's kill my father," Spencer said.

"Rolf knew what he was doing," Hotch told Spencer. "He never would have given away our agenda if Mack Burke had still been in charge. I mean there are multiple reasons that Rolf could have been contacting your old pack and I'm sure he had some story worked out, as to why he was contacting the pack of Las Vegas."

"Well, however, he did it I'm grateful as it leaves us to having to deal with two problem instead of more, so I'm going to have to thank you next time I see him," Spencer said.

"I bet you, your father is going to be so shocked to see you that he's going to be no challenge at all," Hotch chuckled wickedly.

"You're likely right about that, but I don't think he would be a challenge against you, even if he wasn't shocked, simply because I know you're fighting skills and as far as I know my father, doesn't have any skills like that to speak of. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if my father is seriously out of shape since he is the lawyer after all and doesn't have a profession that requires him to exercise and we both know how lazy my father can be. I wouldn't be surprised if this included physical exertion, because I never saw him exert himself even the slightest bit back before he left the family. He never helped cook dinner for example, though that's understandable since I know he can't cook, but he never took out the trash, unless forced by mom or any other chore as far as I know. I'm actually surprised that he managed to go to college and become a lawyer considering his rather lazy nature as he would have had to study hard to get his degree."

"Well, when people are doing something they really love they tend to put the effect in, but then they can be lazy in every other aspect of their lives like chores. I'm not saying it's right, just that it can happen," Hotch theorized.

"That could very well be my father's problem," Spencer said after some consideration. "I really, really hope that he is shocked to see me, because I want him to see that I survived and persevered despite him. I want him to know that not only did I survive so did Dylan and Trev and that despite our hard childhood we're all now happy, happier than we ever were when he was actually part of our lives. I want him to know that none of us have thought about him in a very long time, and I'll be perfectly happy to never think about him again and I for one will not mourn his death. I want him to know what he has done before he meets his end and I want to tell him that Dylan and Trev don't even remember him, because they were so young when he abandoned us and the only reason I remember him at all is because of my memory. I want him to know that if I could wipe my memory of him entirely I would, but unfortunately, that's not possible. I want to utterly destroy him verbally anyway before you finish the job, by physically destroying him."

"And here you were so against killing him back when I first mentioned it," Hotch said teasingly, very proud of how much his mate had matured and changed in the last couple years and how rapidly he was picking up werewolf laws history and traditions, which he was still teaching Spencer when they had free time, so it was kind of piecemeal. He knew that Leo and Gertie had taught Spencer and his two brothers a lot, but there was a lot of things that the older couple hadn't covered, either because there had been lack of time or because they hadn't thought of it.

"Back when we first met, I was just trying my best to forge a life for myself and not create waves," Spencer explained. "Back then, I didn't have you to help me see things in a new light. I still don't like a lot of the laws you've told me about. I can understand the need for them, but that doesn't mean I have to like them. However, the wolf that is part of me heartily approves and the last couple years I've been trying to create a balance between the human part of me and my ethics and morals and the wolf part of me and it's need to protect its pack, it's family and also deliver what it considers justice, even if that's though an intermediary such as yourself. I'm much more comfortable with the wolf part of me than I used to be and that's all thanks to you. I know killing William Reid in combat is the right thing to do and I have no doubt that you'll be able to succeed and I came to terms with what was going to happen a long time ago. I accepted it and moved on. I know some werewolves of the pack back in Virginia still consider me more human than wolf, but now I'm able to ignore them, because they don't know a thing about what I've been through or how I didn't exactly have a positive influence on my life. Really to me your opinion is all that matters and everybody else can just go to hell."

"Well," Hotch felt his lips curve up into a smile. "I definitely approve of your new attitude and it's exactly the one you should have while still remaining the nice, gentle person that you are. You shouldn't care about anybody's opinions, except mine or somebody who actually cares about you, like JJ's or Morgan's. You know you have a lot of friends within the pack now and the ones that keep looking on you disapprovingly, well, as you said their opinions don't really matter, because they don't know the whole story of how you had to raise yourself."

"Yes, I do like your friends and consider them my friends also," Spencer agreed. "I have to admit that I never thought I could be close to another werewolf, except my brothers and then you, but I was wrong about that and you chose your friends very well."

"Considering your upbringing I'm surprised your belief in the decency of humanity wasn't completely destroyed," Hotch said. "You and your brothers could've been some of those people that didn't trust anyone except each other, be suspicious of strangers like a lot of people are and be unable to form close connections to anyone and therefore, didn't have friends."

"Well, you know that it's thanks to Leo and Gertie that that didn't happen," Spencer said. "If not for them then my brothers and I could have very well turned out just like you described."

"Well, I'm eternally grateful to them, because they kept you from turning hard and suspicious of everyone. If you had turned out like that I doubt very much you would've ever have trusted me and we never would have completed the bond and both of us would be dead now," Hotch said shuddering at that possibility.

"I doubt we would have met, because the three of us would've started our own company or something similar and made scads of money, but been unable to trust anybody, except each other or we could have become master criminals and that would've been hell for the police force because we would have been nearly impossible to catch," Spencer theorized.

"Well, I'm grateful that didn't happen, as I might be the one bringing you three in along with the rest of the team of course, and then I would have to figure out a way for the three of you to meet your deaths before you were sent to some prison. I would've been forced to kill my own mate, because there was no way I would've been able to get you off for your crimes."

Hotch actually shuddered again as he said that and Spencer did his best to comfort him.

"Which would've caused your death as well," Spencer realized shuddering at the realization.

"It didn't happen thank god, but it could have very easily," Hotch said finally managing to calm down, although his face was still sheet white.

"Let's not dwell on it, as it didn't happen," Spencer suggested. "We have enough trouble coming our way we don't need to add to it."

"Dealing with your father won't be any trouble at all," Hotch snorted in contempt. "The other werewolves of the pack will not dare interfere, especially since it is part of our laws and so long as the challenge is accepted there's nothing they can do, as trying to attack from behind will only get them in trouble and possibly also challenged. Besides, Terry Pulley is on our side in this and he knows exactly why the two of us came to Vegas. He will make sure things run smoothly just as any good leader of a wolfpack would."

"You know I wonder why Mack Burke was killed," Spencer said having been thinking of it for all the time he and Aaron had been talking. "I know now that there're several ways it could've happened. He could've been openly challenged for example, or he could've done something that enraged the whole wolfpack and they put him to death, which would be easy to do if he lost their respect or at least their fear of him and ganged up on him."

"It would have to be a very serious crime, for that to happen, but it's a possibility. I'm hoping we can get Terry to tell us exactly what happened to, but he might not, since it was pack business," Hotch who had also been wondering exactly what had happened to cause the former leader of the Las Vegas pack's death said.

"The only thing I don't expect to be told is that it was done in a underhanded manner like by poison or even say a knife in the back, since if that happened the wolf that had done it would be put to death as well. Besides, you told me that wolves always fight openly and they don't betray one of their own by killing someone by poison or knifing someone in the back. I know there're bad wolves out there after all Mack Burke and my father were two of them and I know they are not an isolated case."

"Definitely not," Hotch agreed. "Wolves do turn out bad sometimes just as humans do, but I will admit that our species has a smaller percentage of criminals than humans. Of course, we're also not as numerous either, which has something to do with it."

"There is what about 20 million werewolves worldwide?" asked Spencer. "Although really that's just a rough estimate."

"About that yes," Hotch agreed. "That might seem like a staggering amount to most people, but considering the billions of humans on this world 20 million really is a small percentage."

"So what are we going to do about the other problem we discovered?" Spencer asked.

Hotch knew that his mate was referring to the fact that his father had fathered several other pups on various women or at least that's what their birth certificates claimed. It was only thanks to Garcia that they knew that Spencer's father had about a dozen other pups between three different women as well as the dozen his father had with his wife. Neither he or Spencer were sure if William Reid or the pack knew of their existence or that the women in question knew that their children were werewolves and would change on the full moon. Of course, most of the children were past that two-year benchmark, where they would change into werewolves for the first time once the moon's light hit them, but there were four of them out there, quadruplets that were only a little bit over a year old and those were the ones that he and Spencer were the most concerned about, since they wouldn't change into werewolves on the full moon for just under a year.

"Well, really this is Terry's territory," Hotch explained, "and therefore, we should mention it to him and see what he has to say. We should tell him that we suspected that William Reid might have more pups out there, considering what we know of him and that we had the technical analyst of the BAU track down his movements for the last 20 or so years."

"You know I don't understand how my father could have so many pups considering he doesn't care about children at all, me and my brothers being a case in point. He must believe he's the 21st century's version of Don Juan."

"The Spanish lover?" Hotch chuckled.

"Yes, love them and leave them," Spencer snorted. "I also don't understand how the man I share half my genes with could be so irresponsible considering that he knows that keeping the secret of our species is of paramount importance. You know it's likely that his wife knows that he's been cheating on her and if that's the case..."

"A wife always instinctively knows when her husband is cheating on her with another lover," said Hotch. "She might not necessarily have admitted it, even to herself, but still a woman always knows when her man has strayed as they're always signs no matter how careful the man is."

"And the same is true of same-sex couples like us," Spencer said, "although in our case neither one of us is going to cheat on the other, but then we have a Lifemate bond while other couples don't have the privilege of knowing that they have found the one for them and they often mess up a good thing just because of their fears."

"Too true," Hotch said. "Now I think we've talked enough for now and we could be using our time more constructively."

"In other words, you want to get me into bed and have your way with me," Spencer chuckled immediately knowing what Aaron was really saying without having to be told.

"Well, yes," Hotch said not even looking sheepish just eager as he gazed at the handsome and well toned body of his mate. "You know me too well."

"I should considering we've been together for over two years now," Spencer chuckled genuinely looking forward to it as he always loved having sex with his mate and he'd never believed he would actually think that. He loved the way that Aaron worshipped his body and also how sometimes they were so frantic for each other that Hotch just rammed himself into him, because he didn't have time to lube himself up. The two of them had discovered over the last couple of years that they liked making love in multiple ways like where they went slowly and took their time to bring each other to their climaxes and also where Hotch couldn't wait to have him and so shoved his cock roughly into his hole, without bothering to lube himself up first, which usually only happened after they had not had sex for several days due to work obligations. Some of the times Spencer loved the most were where Aaron's cock became locked inside his body due to his Knot and they made love multiple times during the night with short naps in between. He was always very sore afterwards, but since that went away in just a few hours well he didn't really mind it considering that the sex was so bloody spectacular. Aaron was definitely an Alpha male and that of course, included in bed where he was always on top and therefore, the dominant position, but since he was such a fantastic lover, Spencer didn't object to spending hours doing that particular activity. Of course, sometimes no penetration took place at all, but they still enjoyed playing with each other and he, Spencer Reid had gotten quite good at swallowing his lover's cock and using his tongue to give his Alpha mate pleasure while Aaron's big cock was in his mouth. Aaron had had quite a few strong climax while he was busy swallowing his cock and Aaron's seed went directly down his throat. Aaron Hotchner was a big man in more ways than just the obvious, as not only was he heavily muscled in his chest and his legs in particular but his cock was also one of the biggest that Spencer had ever seen on any male, werewolf or human.

And he's all mine, Spencer thought appreciatively as he imagined the pleasure still to come.

"If you expect me to perform for you you're going to have to feed me first," Spencer added after a moment. "For what I know you have planned for me, well, it takes energy, a lot of it and I haven't had anything since breakfast on the plane and it's one o'clock now."

"Alright, I'll feed you first before we come back here and I have my wicked way with you," Hotch chuckled.

Hotch had realized quite a long time ago now that he laughed and smiled a lot more than he had used to and he knew the sole reason for that was laying in his lap with his head on his chest. Spencer Reid had a brought such joy and pleasure to his life ever since the two of them had met as before he had rarely done anything except work and spend time with his pups. He had hardly ever gone out for a drink with the team, or any other extracurricular activity, at least not one that didn't involve his children, but now all that had changed and he was glad of it as his life had been stale and boring, in other words, routine with no spontaneousness. He had enjoyed catching unsubs that had hurt others and putting them in prison and that had been about it for the happiness in his life, but now that he had Spencer his happiness was of a different kind and not just because of a job well done like before.

Now he looked forward to rising each day, when before he had only gotten up out of a sense of duty a lot of days. Things were different now and he would fight tooth and nail to never lose Spencer for any reason as it would destroy him. Oh, he wasn't afraid of Spencer leaving them thanks to the bond they shared and besides, he knew the younger man genuinely did love him just as he did his mate and not just because of the bond, but because of the emotions he felt from the younger man.

It was true that neither one of them had known much about each other when they had first met, but by now they knew almost everything there was to know about the lives of each other before they had met that day, or at least they knew a great deal more than they had. What he was afraid of was Spencer would get himself killed in the line of duty as he knew very well it could happen to either one of them. On the other hand, he couldn't treat Spencer like a child and smother him in cotton wool or put him in a bubble safe from the world, no matter how much he would have liked to. He'd had to throttle back his instincts a lot, when it came to protecting his mate from anybody who would hurt him, whether it be mentally, emotionally or physically, as he felt that Spencer had been through more than enough already and didn't need him being an overprotective ass, like Morgan had been until recently.

Like Spencer he'd had to find a balance, except in this case, it was more a balance between his need to be overprotective of his mate and his need to let Spencer have the freedom he deserved.

So far he thought he was doing a pretty good job, as he knew Spencer was happy and content in their relationship, just as he was and that was all that mattered.

"Good, because I don't like to miss a meal unless I absolutely have to now that you finally have me eating decently. You put a lot of effort in training my body so that it eats a decent amount every meal instead what I was eating before."

"It was worth it as you're certainly looking healthier," Hotch said. "Due to the fact that your father didn't leave until you were seven well your growth wasn't stunted like it could've been if he'd left earlier. I'm sure you know that if he had left sooner you probably never would've reached your full height which is very near to my own and you'd also have other problems as even a werewolf needs to eat a certain amount in order to maintain their bodies."

"Yes, you told me back when we first met that pups need quite a bit of food, more than a human infant, in order to grow up big and strong. We are organic beings just like humans after all and our two species do share certain similarities."

"Both of our species can become malnourished if not given proper food," Hotch agreed,

"which of course, means that our growth is stunted and we develop medical problems that could have been avoided with proper nutrition. And while a werewolf's pups constitution is usually pretty hardy, that doesn't mean that they can go without food, the kind that actually nourishes the body and aren't full of empty calories that do nothing."

"Yeah, neither me or my brothers can cook very well and so we survived on things that didn't need to be for the most part," Spencer admitted. "We always bought the cheapest possible foodstuffs that wouldn't spoil too soon and lasted forever, things like dry cereal. Unfortunately, although mom could cook, by the time we were nine or so she was so lost in her own little world that we wouldn't let her near a stove."

"And you didn't have money for her medication," Hotch summarized and Spencer nodded.

"If we'd had access to my mother's checking account that had the money she made while she was teaching then we would've had the money for the necessary things like that and me and my brothers might have had to watch our pennies, but we wouldn't have had to become pickpockets in order to survive. Of course, we picked up odd jobs now and then to once we were a little older before we went to college as I told you and that helped buy food and other necessaries. You know the three of us felt really guilty for leaving our mother, as there was no one to look after her and make sure she was eating at least, not to mention actually getting out of bed as staying prone like that all the time is poor for the circulation."

"I'm not sure how your poor mother survived without at least one of you to look after her," Hotch said with a shake of his head.

"Actually, I never told you this, but it's thanks to Travis that she did so well as he sent one of the female werewolves down there on the train to help look after her while we were in college, which didn't mean that we didn't worry some, we just worried to little less that's all."

"That was really nice of Travis," Hotch said. "The werewolf in question could've been in big trouble if any of the Las Vegas Pack had ever discovered her in their territory especially since I'm assuming she avoided the werewolves in the area."

"Well, from what I know the females stuck close to the house and our house wasn't near actual pack territory, which is how me and my brothers could hunt in the forests for rabbits and such, even if we didn't often catch anything since we were still so young," Spencer explained.

"And you also hadn't been taught how to hunt and track," Hotch snorted, "so it's a miracle you managed to catch anything at all."

"Which didn't happen often, at least when we were younger. In any case, I believe that Travis asked several female to rotate. One female stayed for a week and then another female would arrive and stay for another and they made sure my mother took care of herself," Spencer said.

"I would think that your mother wouldn't accept complete strangers helping her," Hotch said.

"Well, thanks to not taking her medicine by that time, she often hallucinated and when she did she saw those females as people she knew or at least that's what Travis told me, Trevyn and Dylan."

"Still, I'm surprised Travis, would do that," Hotch said, "as it's not exactly part of an Alpha's duties to take care of someone who isn't part of his pack and lives in a different state altogether."

"I believe he did it, because he felt that we had been given a raw deal and since we were now part of his pack, albeit temporarily, while we went to college he felt it was something that should be done. He told me that he asked for volunteers as he couldn't order any of his pack to do it, since it wasn't really in the Alpha's job description. I believe the ladies arranged it among themselves, as to who would go and when," Spencer explained.

"Well, I'm really going to have to meet this Travis and thank him," Hotch said. "He went really above and beyond his responsibilities as leader of the pack in Massachusetts and I'm also going to have to thank the ladies that did that for you for that meant that they cared enough to be away from their pack and their home, even if it was only for a short while."

The two of them fell silent and then Spencer rose from where he was laying curled up partly on the couch and partly in his mate's lap.

"I think it's time that you feed me, and then that we can do what we both really want," Spencer said firmly his stomach growling. "We can stay here and order room service if you want, so long as my stomach gets fed. I'm sure the food here is excellent considering this isn't the normal fleabag hotel we stay in when we are on the dime of the US government."

"Yes, well I didn't see any reason for staying in one of those places when both of us make plenty of money not to mention my inheritance. This might not be a five-star hotel, but it is certainly a step or two up from the ones that Garcia books us in when we are on a case."

"Well, I certainly appreciate it, and besides, you hardly ever spend any of your money on yourself and by that I mean you don't splurge very often and you certainly deserve to sometimes. I don't believe you are going to go broke if we stay in places like this occasionally," Spencer said.

"No, definitely not," Hotch agreed. "Actually, thanks to all the research you've done my inheritance has actually increased by quite a large percentage as I've invested in several businesses that you suggested. In fact it's increased by about 3% and that's quite a lot, when you consider the amount of money involved."

"Well, I'm glad my research worked out then," Spencer said blushing at the compliment.

"Oh, they have and if you have anymore good suggestions like then let me know. I know you don't have a degree in business, but you seem to have an instinctive knack for knowing what's going to make money and what isn't," Hotch said.

"Really, it's just a matter of common sense and doing thorough research," Spencer said with a shrug. "I suppose it does take a certain knack in spotting trends and things like that, but to me and my brothers it's simple. I suppose that the three of us having good heads for business only makes sense considering that our father is very intelligent and he's good at business, so we simply inherited it from him. I know both Trev and Dylan have plans to invest what money they make slowly until it builds up to the level they need and then start businesses of their own once they have the capital."

"You know I'd be happy to invest in whatever businesses they want to start because if there anywhere near as successful as you were at investing I know their businesses will also be successes," Hotch said.

Spencer looked truly startled at that as it never occurred to him to ask Aaron if he would be willing to do that.

"Well, thank you for the generous offer, I'll talk to my brothers and see what they think," said Spencer given his lover a grateful kiss on the lips.

"You're more than welcome, and we can consider it a loan instead of a handout if you like, because I know that all men have their pride. Besides, unlike the bank I don't intend to charge them interest, which has made more than one business fail because people can't pay back the banks interest on the loan in time," Hotch said.

The two men left the hotel room side-by-side in walked to their rented car. Hotch unlocked the car doors and he and Spencer got in.

"So where do you want to go for a late lunch?" asked Hotch.

"It doesn't really matter to me, someplace like Denny's like we go to on cases is fine," Spencer answered.

"I think that we are going to drive around and find a place that isn't a chain," Hotch said firmly. "Someplace nice and that we don't frequent when we are working. I for one am in the mood for a nice big juicy steak."

"Oh, yes, that sounds wonderful," Spencer said almost drooling, as he imagined biting into a steak that was more red then not."

"I saw plenty of restaurants on our way from the airport," Hotch said. "I'm sure we'll find a place that we both agree on."

Hotch started the engine and backed out of the parking place heading out of the parking lot.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	16. Chapter 16

Part 16

"It's nice to meet you," Terry Pulley told Hotch and Spencer graciously, as the two men entered the private room of the restaurant that they were meeting the Alpha for the Las Vegas pack at.

"Thank you, for inviting us," Hotch said graciously, barring his neck in a gesture of respect to Terry since this was not his territory and then shook the Alpha's hand, Spencer hesitantly doing the same.

"You're welcome, but technically, Spencer here should be part of my pack and since the two of you are Lifemates at least from what Rolf told me then you also should be part of the pack," Terry said.

"Technically, that is correct," Hotch agreed. "However, due to circumstances I do believe that Spencer does not consider himself part of your pack."

Terry looked over at Spencer who had been quiet up until now and Hotch nodded at his mate, so he answered Terry's obvious question, even if he and actually spoken it. "Aaron is right, I would not feel comfortable in your pack no offense meant or anything. Ever since me and my brothers were made outcasts by the former Alpha at just seven, well we were on our own for so long that I never believed we'd be comfortable around others of our kind again, except each other."

"Yes, I can see that," Terry said thoughtfully unoffended. "I'm still amazed that you survived, considering we all know that your father is a useless ponce."

"It wasn't easy," Spencer said with a shrug, "my brother and I had to do things that we did not like in order to survive, since our mother was so ill and our darling father left the four of us with absolutely no provisions."

The words darling father was said so sarcastically that even Aaron looked startled as sarcasm wasn't exactly Spencer's natural forte.

"I firmly believe that the only reason Spencer and his two brothers survived was because they had each other," Hotch told Terry who nodded thoughtfully. "I believe that the three of them formed their own pack and that is the only reason that none of them died. I feel that if Spencer had been an only child that he'd be buried in the ground somewhere, dead since he was seven or eight years old unable to stand the loneliness of not having a pack, instead of working with me at the BAU. What horrifies me the most is that it's possible we two never would have met. It's merely a twist of fate, that he isn't dead, a twist that could have gone the other way, so easily."

"Yes, that easily could've happened," Terry agreed, "and I'm still amazed that it did not."

"I firmly believe that one of the reasons it didn't happen was that all three of them were highly intelligent, with high enough IQs that mark all three of them as geniuses," Hotch said. "They were intelligent enough to be careful about what they said in front of adults and never to discuss personal things so that they didn't end up in a foster home or more likely several of them."

"It was hard until we went to college at 13," Spencer chipped in, "but all three of us prefer to not think about it and concentrate on the future. My brothers don't even remember our father at all except very vaguely, since he left us so young, however, I am unable to forget due to my eidetic memory, even if I often wish I could, but that isn't possible."

"So you're here on business instead of pleasure and you want to issue a challenge to Spencer's father," Terry asked Hotch already knowing the answer.

"That is correct," Hotch growled looking menacing his eyes changing to the yellow of the wolf and his fangs dropping. "Believe me, I've been anticipating this day for more than two years now, although Spencer made me promise that I would only beat the shit out of him if he had found his Lifemate and not kill him."

"He hasn't," Terry answered immediately. "Lynda, his wife is completely human, which means that she cannot be his Lifemate, since it can only be another werewolf."

"Both Aaron and I had suspected as much as we found quite a bit of information on the Internet about both of them," Spencer said quietly. "Once I discovered that she had lived in Las Vegas all her life I knew that she was human, simply because I don't remember her before I was thrown out of the pack and I would because of my memory. It is nice to hear it confirmed, however."

"It is," Hotch said with a ferocious grin, his eyes glittering like gold. "This means I can do what I've been wanting to do, ever since I learned of Spencer past, and that's kill him. Technically, he should've been taken care of years ago, because for a wolf to abandon their family in that way, well, you know what our species thinks about betrayal, especially of your own family."

"Yes, I know and if I had been in charge of the pack back then I guarantee you that's what would've happened unless he had gone back to his family or at least provided for their care," said Terry his expression ferocious. "However, I had no authority back then as I was only 16 and Burke was the Alpha. None of the pack dared defy him when he made Spencer and his two brothers outcasts because they would have faced the same fate. Burke didn't like it when somebody questioned his authority."

"So can you give us the details of exactly what happened to Burke," asked Hotch. "If you can't tell us we understand, but both of us really want to know if at all possible."

"Well technically, it is pack business, but I suppose you deserve to know considering what Burke did to you and your brothers Spencer," Terry said. "Besides, technically, you're still part of the Las Vegas pack as I overturned Burke's decision as soon as I learned you were all alive. Burke, never should have made the three of you outcasts as you were only seven and had committed no crimes. I ask that you tell no one what I'm about to say as it is pack business."

"We won't tell anyone," Hotch promised and Spencer immediately echoed him. "My word as an Alpha."

Terry nodded accepting the promise.

"It turned out that Burke liked his own sex just like you two and while there is nothing wrong with this so long as it's consensual in this case it wasn't. However, it was discovered just a few years ago that the reason that you were thrown out of the pack along with your brothers was because of the fact that Burke wanted your father for himself. Burke, apparently had a huge crush on your father and tried everything to get William Reid to notice him, but as we all know your father only likes women. When your father eventually married and had the three of you Burke was practically incoherent with rage. However, he was good at hiding his emotion for the most part, but though anyone didn't know it at the time he started to plot his revenge. Finally Burke could not stand his jealousy any longer and attacked your father when he was attending a party. It was just over five years ago, on Christmas Eve and even though you probably don't remember it we have a Christmas party for the whole pack every year."

"Yes, I do remember the few I attended," Spencer said with a nod.

"Oh, yes, I forgot about your eidetic memory," Terry said. "In any case, William Reid was just leaving the party for the evening to head home and Burke who had been lying in wait followed him outside to his car. Unfortunately, he was alone as his wife and pups had left earlier, so that Lynda could put them to bed. I'm sure you know that your father has absolutely no fighting skills and he was taken from behind, so he had no chance to defend himself anyway."

"So my father was raped?" asked Spencer his voice emotionless.

"Not quite, as all Burke managed to do was get William's pants and underwear down and he was getting ready to do the deed when some of the other wolves exited the house and saw what was happening," Terry explained. "I do remember that your father looked terrified, although he was only making little whimpering sounds and Burke was leaning over him whispering something in his ear. William never would tell us what he said, not even after Burke was put to death in the same way that any wolf who rapes somebody is, even though he had not succeeded, since the Alpha, the leader of a pack is not above the law."

Hotch winced at that and then said, "I won't say Burke didn't deserve it, because I doubt very much this was the first time he had raped someone."

"What do you mean?" asked Terry.

"Well, both Spencer and I work at the BAU or the Behavioral Analysis Unit at the FBI," Hotch explained. "One of the BAU's mandates is to build a database of every criminals behavior so we can give a profile. We're constantly adding to our knowledge, but a lot of criminals who commit the same kind of crime act in basically the same way with variations of course. Burke was likely a serial rapist and likely the only reason he had never been caught before was that he was very careful and likely stuck to humans.

"Now, a man raping another man is pretty unusual as it's usually just females that a rapist goes after, however, it has been seen before, even if it's not as common. I wouldn't be surprised if Burke had raped someone on many different occasions, but he spread them out enough that it wasn't attributed to the same person, either that or he never allowed his victims to see his face or possibly it wasn't reported very often. Besides, a lot of times rape doesn't get reported at all, as it is just too shameful and embarrassing to the person who's been raped. A lot of females for instance consider it their fault that they were attacked in such a vicious manner, which is of course, not correct. Over 70% of victims never recover because they don't get proper support. Rape is the most vicious crime out there as it is even worse than murder because it destroys a person's sense of self and the confidence in their own abilities."

"A lot rape victims 97 percent of which are female never trust again," Spencer continued when Hotch paused. "They close themselves off from any human contact or keep it to the absolute minimum, they stop trusting their friends and cut off all contact with their family a lot of times. Of course, it doesn't help that a lot of people believe that the females in particular brought it on themselves, sometimes even the victims families, even if this is not true."

"Rape is a vicious attack and is never the victim's fault no matter what is widely believed, but because of that belief it's also why so many that go through it never fully recover and very few people are strong enough mentally and emotionally to get through it the aftermath on their own without any kind of support. Now, since Burke's male and liked his own sex I wouldn't be surprised if he raped other men and therefore, took them from behind. If that's the way it happened then it's unlikely that any of his victims would have ever seen his face and therefore, the police wouldn't have any idea of who it was, just that it had happened, but not be able to get any details," Hotch finished.

"That information is rather disturbing," Terry said looking rather unnerved.

"Sorry it's a hazard of the job," Hotch apologized. "Both Spencer and I as well as the rest of our unit have all type of information like that stored in our heads and none of it is pleasant. People who have jobs like ours have to learn how to compartmentalize or we could never do what we do as we would burn out quite quickly from all the horror we see."

"No need to apologize, I did ask, even if I wish I hadn't," Terry said. "So you believe that the pack's former Alpha, was a serial rapist? Of other men no less?"

"We'll never know now that he's dead," Hotch said with a shrug, "but it's very possible. The thing about criminals like that is eventually they just short circuit, if they aren't caught beforehand. A lot of criminals we catch have had psychotic breaks that turn them into what they are and Burke could have had one that made him attack his obsession of many years on that Christmas Eve five years ago. If that's what happened it doesn't make it right, of course, but it might explain why he suddenly went berserk like that."

"Obsessions like that, especially one that's over a period of years eventually come to a head so I'm not really surprised, that Burke just finally lost it and attacked William Reid like he did as he's been obsessed with him at least since I was four years old. Actually it explains a lot of things," Spencer continued. "It explained why Burke hated my brothers and me when we met him when we were four years old. It explains why Burke threw me and my brothers out of the pack and made us outcasts. Burke probably convinced him to leave us in the lurch. Of course, I'm not saying that father didn't play any part in the decision, because it was clear to me at least that William Reid was unhappy in his marriage, and doubly so once my mother became so ill. It was clear that he was disappointed in his children whom he felt weren't meeting his standards. I know now that William Reid didn't want children that had their own individual personalities or were more intelligent then he was, he wanted ones that were carbon copies of him."

"Yes, I have to admit that that sounds like William Reid all over," Terry sighed. "I've known the man for 35 years now, ever since I was a pup and I have to admit that he's never been my favorite person. I wanted to punish him for what he did to you Spencer and to your brothers after I made made Alpha five years ago, but it was such an old crime, that I couldn't really do anything about it, as I was still new to the position of Alpha and had yet to establish my authority over the pack. The pack had been run Burke's way for so long, that it took a lot to remind all of them of the way things should be. I had to remind then that they could approach me with any problems as it was my job to help, I had to prove that they had nothing to fear from me unless they broke one of our laws. It's taken a long time for them to get over there fear that I'm going to make one of them an outcast or even kill them for the slightest infraction. I really wish that Burke could've been deposed sooner, but I can also understand how the others of the pack were to afraid to do anything, including me, at least until he was caught in an actual crime and that way none of the wolves had to openly challenge him for leadership of the pack."

"I'm also sorry that Burke couldn't be deposed earlier," Spencer told Terry sincerely. "If he had been perhaps, me and my brothers would have been taken in by a pack member or at least checked on and guided while we lived with our mother and taught pack laws and the other things we needed to know."

"Yes, that's definitely what should've happened and your father should have been forced to at least provide for your care if nothing else," Terry said. "So you, Aaron, are going to deal with him? Permanently?"

"Yes, I am going to challenge him directly and he will not be able to refuse or he'll lose face," Hotch said with fire in his eyes. "I know most of the pack has probably forgotten about the three young pups that were cast out for no reason at all, but when Spencer appears alive and healthy they will be reminded of what happened so many years ago. If William Reid doesn't accept my challenge, well, then the rest of the pack will likely shun him and call him a coward and then he'll likely commit suicide, which would still accomplish what I set out to do, but I'd rather do it my way."

"Most of the pack remembers, except the young pups who weren't alive at that time and of course, the ones that we're not yet born, have not forgotten," Terry said looking sad. "They knew it was a terrible crime, but they didn't want to challenge Burke, because he was one of the toughest Alpha's in the pack at that time and could have taken on at least three of the other werewolves with no problem and you're right Will, will be shunned if he doesn't accept your challenge. Are you sure they'll that you can take him always and win? I don't mean to insult you or your fighting skills and you do look like you can handle yourself, but since you and Spencer are Lifemates, well I don't want your death, not to mention his on my conscious."

"Absolutely, I have no worries about that at all," Hotch promised not insulted. "If you've ever been through FBI training you would not have to ask that question as it isn't exactly a walk in the park and many would-be agents drop out before training has even barely started as the candidates are put though the wringer from day one both physically and intellectually. Even though it was many years ago I have never forgotten my skills and I keep myself in excellent shape. Besides, you said yourself he has no fighting skills and Spencer agrees with that assessment, so no, I'm not worried at all about accomplishing what I've been wanting to do for quite awhile now. Besides, he's only a weak Beta not an Alpha and will be no match for me."

"I'm not worried," Spencer who had been silent for sometime added. "I would have urged Aaron to not go through with it, if I wasn't absolutely sure that he would win with minimal injuries. William Reid, if you didn't know this already, never exercises and while he might be able to run as a wolf without huffing and puffing, like a broken bellows that doesn't mean he can take Aaron in a straight out fight as William Reid has absolutely no fighting skills as you said."

"Besides, we have surprise on our side as once Spencer shows up alive he'll likely be so shocked I doubt he'll be able to fight adequately. I have no intention of letting him recover from that shock. Of course, I'll do what you order, since it is your pack and we're in your territory, but William Reid really does need to pay for what he did by leaving his family with no provisions or money as it is a very serious crime and while I realize it's not entirely his fault he still played a part in what happened to Spencer, Dylan and Trevyn."

"Are you sure this is what you want Spencer?" asked Terry next. "If you're mate succeeds your father will be dead and once that happens there will be no going back."

"I know," Spencer told Terry quietly. "Believe me, Aaron and I have discussed this at great length more than once over the last couple of years. I've also discussed the matter with my brothers and we all agree, that William Reid is not our father, at least not in anyway that matters. Sure, me and my brother share half his genes and last name, but that's as far as it goes. There's only one man I consider a father, even though I don't share any of his genes and that's Jason Gideon who's part of the same unit that Aaron and I work for.

"He's the one that convinced me to consider a career in the FBI, when he saw how intelligent I was while he was lecturing at MIT where me and my brothers went to college. He's the one that called in numerous favors to pull me directly into the BAU instead of me going the normal career route and serving several years in another department or even two, before even being considered for the most prestigious unit in the FBI and which a lot of other agents resent me for.

"I know I should say that I don't want my father dead, but then again he was never much of a father to the three of us, even when we were really small. He didn't put in a single iota of effect in playing with us or teaching us anything and basically ignored us. He seemed to think that we were our mother's responsibility, that he had done his part by getting her pregnant and that everything else was on her and not him. Half the time mom couldn't even get him to take out the damn trash and if he actually did it he grumbled about it so badly that it took a lot for the three of us not to roll our eyes at him in his presence as we would have been severely punished if he had actually seen us do it. All he wanted to do once he got home was just laze about watching TV or read the paper."

"Alright then," Terry finally agreed. "You have my permission to challenge William Reid too a combat to the death."

"Excellent!" Hotch said with a ferocious grin. "I can hardly wait! Normally, when we catch unsubs, we put them in prison and we only shoot them if absolutely necessary, however, this is a werewolf matter and not a human matter so it's totally different kettle of fish. You know that I've been wanting to challenge William Reid ever since Spencer told me his history as I told you awhile ago. However, this is the first chance, that we've had to do it, because for a long time we weren't sure if Mack Burke was still in charge of the pack in this area, or if he had since been deposed."

"Yes, what Will did was deplorable and also Mack Burke," Terry agreed soberly. "I still can't believe Will did it, as for a wolf to betray his family like that..."

"Yes, I understand what you mean, as Aaron has been teaching me what I never learned, as William Reid never bothered to teach me or my brothers anything, about werewolf laws, our history or traditions. Now I realize, that most young werewolves don't start those lessons until they're 10 or 11 when they learn how to read relatively well, but Aaron also said that since me and my brothers were so intelligent we could've been taught much earlier, as when the lessons take place aren't set in stone. I now know that what William Reid did, is not seen very often within any pack as wolves are notoriously loyal to their friends, their family and their pack. Occasionally, there'll be a pup born one that doesn't seem to have close ties with their family unit or the rest of the pack. These individuals are often loners, even though the term lone wolf is a misnomer or in some cases where they do get married they don't have close ties to their pups or their spouse and so don't see anything wrong about leaving them in the lurch, pack law or not. This is what happened with William Reid, and is considered a betrayal and unless the matter is corrected and provisions made for the spouse and the pups, then that wolf is faced with the Alpha of the pack with every member supporting him and at the very least he is made an outcast. Of course, this only happens when the Alpha isn't like Burke," Spencer explained.

"Yes, you hit the nail on the head," Terry told Spencer admiringly. "You're mate has taught you well."

"I really didn't do anything," Hotch denied. "Yes, I've taught him all about pack law, but Spencer is an information sponge and his memory is a eidetic, which means he never forgets anything he sees or hears as you already know."

"Reading was one of the few ways that me and my brothers could escape for a few hours," Spencer shrugged trying not to blush at his mate's compliment. "We'd go to the local library or bookstore and I at least would read the book right there, since I read very fast and remember every word. I never actually had to check anything out or buy anything. Aaron was kind enough to teach me what I should have learned as a pup, and he's still doing so, since we're so busy with our jobs."

"We often introduce him as our expert on everything as he has so much knowledge and trivia stored in that big brain of his that has come in useful on a case more than once in the last couple of years," Hotch added.

"I would really like to learn more about yours and your brothers past Spencer, how you survived and the like, but I understand that it's very painful for you to recall, so I won't bother you about it, but anything you want to reveal I'm willing to listen," Terry said. "Since you don't consider yourself part of my pack and you have other lives up in Washington I can't order you to tell me anything and I wouldn't anyway, since it's you're life and I understand it's private."

"Perhaps, I'll trust you enough someday to tell you," Spencer said calmly. "I'm hoping to make many visits to see my half siblings, although I'm very well aware that William Reid's wife Lynda might very well deny me the opportunity to get to know them, especially since Aaron is going to kill her husband."

"Actually I think she'll thank you, because from what I know, their marriage is very rocky, even though they've only been married less than 15 years," Terry said.

"Lynda's probably discovered what a jerk the senior Reid is," Hotch said with a smirk. "Considering the genes the three brothers come from it actually surprises me that all the Reid pups turned out so normal, but then again I'm not one to talk as my childhood wasn't exactly very happy either," Hotch shrugged.

"So the marriage of William Reid and Lynda is rocky is it?" Spencer's smirked, which was very unlike him at least in most cases, but then again he had every right to take pleasure in William Reid's unhappy life, although he did feel sorry for Lynda. "I'm not in the least surprised at all."

Terry was looking at him rather quizzically and so Spencer explained. "Normally, I wouldn't take any pleasure in how somebody's life is falling apart. However, I made an exception for the man who used to be my father, simply because of what he did to not only to me and my brothers, but to mom as well, as he hurt us all. He left us with no provisions, no money, no nothing. The only reason we survived it all is the fact that all three of us are very intelligent and knew better and try to get help from adults. However, I will be happy when this business is dealt with, so that Aaron and I can perhaps, have a real vacation, before we head back to Quantico."

"We told the team that we were taking a vacation, as they know about our relationship, although not that we are werewolves or Lifemates," Hotch said.

Terry nodded approvingly at that.

"Gideon and Morgan weren't to happy," Spencer snickered.

"Why not?" asked Terry in surprise. "I would think they'd be happy that two of their teammates found love."

"They were unhappy with the situation for different reasons," Spencer explained. "Derek Morgan was unhappy with it, because he truly believed that I was just going through a stage and that Aaron and I would break up in a few months, and when we were still together a year later he finally accepted that we weren't going to break up. Morgan thinks of me as a little brother since he only has two sisters and thinks that I need protection. I suppose I do come off as innocent and in need of protection, which isn't true, but that's just the way that Morgan thinks. Anyway, we've dealt with this situation now as Morgan has finally accepted that I'm not leaving Aaron, just to make him happy. Gideon, on the other hand, was much more serious."

"In what way?" asked Terry when Spencer didn't continue.

"Gideon is against same-sex relationships," Hotch explained when Spencer still didn't say anything. "He's an older man, in his 50s, and back when he was born same-sex relationships weren't accepted like they are today. He really struggled with the fact that we were together, because he thinks of Spencer like a son, but finally when he realized that he wasn't going to break us up he accepted our relationship, although he still isn't happy about it."

"He had to decide whether or not he was going to allow his views to damage our relationship to the point that it no longer existed," Spencer said. "If it had gone that way it would have been nearly impossible to rebuild it, but luckily, Gideon finally decided that he wasn't going to let his views of same-sex relationships ruin what we have. However, as Aaron said he's still struggling with it and I'm not sure how that's going to turn out."

"The two of us are planning to have a commitment ceremony sometime in the next year," Hotch added. "We'd love to have a wedding, but we're trying to keep our relationship low-key because of certain circumstances that I won't bother to go into."

Terry knew that meant, that it was none of his business and that it was private and he could understand that.

"Did you know that William Reid has fathered about a dozen other pups with three other women besides, my mother and Lynda?" asked Reid suddenly.

"Yes, I did as most of them are part of the pack along with their mothers, but how did you find out?" asked Terry curiously.

"Well, Aaron and I suspected that William Reid had fathered more pups, just from what we know about him, so we knew it was very possible. We had our technical analyst Penelope Garcia dig out the information for us. She's a whiz with computers and backtracked William Reid's movements for the last 20 years. I simply told her that I wanted to know if I had any half siblings out there," Reid explained. "I wasn't sure if you knew about any of them or my dad's habit of not using protection."

"Yes, I was aware that William Reid is very irresponsible," Terry snorted. "I've been aware of it since I was a teenager of about 13. However, I wasn't the Alpha back then and Burke didn't bother to do anything about his very irresponsible behavior. I'm not sure if something went wrong in William Reid's head as I knew his parents and they were the very responsible types. I suppose it could have had to do with the fact that his twin brother died by his own stupidity, years before I was born."

"My father had a twin brother?" asked Spencer in surprise for he had not known this.

"Well, it was years before I was born, but people talk and the story is that the two of them were identical twins. They were very close as most identical twins are and did absolutely everything together. Then one day when Robert Reid got himself into a situation that was more then he could handle."

"What kind of situation did Uncle Robert get into? How old was he?" asked Spencer.

"Will's brother was only about 17 from what I understand and due to start college the following year," Terry answered with a shrug. "Apparently Robert had quite a way with the ladies and made the mistake of going after one that was married. From what I know the husband wasn't the forgiving sort and shot him and it didn't matter that he was only 17. Now normally, while a bullet won't kill us and in fact out wounds heal incredibly fast, in this case the man just happened to hit something vital that even a werewolf couldn't heal from in time to save their life unless they get attention immediately and as you can see that didn't happen this time. The man, of course, went to prison, but unfortunately, Robert Reid was still dead. I know the parents were devastated, but William who was of course, the same age wasn't only devastated, but furious as he wanted to take the man's life for what he had done. He told everyone that the man going to prison wasn't enough, that he deserved to die. I'm not saying that some of the other werewolves in the pack at that time did not agree, but unfortunately, the man was out of reach. William's parents never really recovered from the death of their son and then he went to college and the couple were left alone. Nobody is sure if it happened right after the death of Robert or if it happened later as everybody was too deep in grieving to notice that William began to change and it wasn't for the better."

Spencer and Hotch listened to the story and Spencer was upset that he had never known his uncle that had been dead years before he was even a twinkle in his parents eyes.

"You know, it's likely, that something within William Reid snapped after the death of his brother," Hotch suggested after a long silence. "It's been known to happen all the time because when a person grieves for someone, especially someone as close as a sibling, which of course, includes identical twins, well, it can do weird things to the psyche. If he didn't receive any grief counseling, although I realize that back then it was uncommon to go to a shrink, however, the shrink would have helped the senior Reid to sort through his emotions and come out healthier for it. Since I know it's unlikely he received that kind of treatment, that likely explains exactly why Spencer's father is like he is. It doesn't excuse him from his actions toward his own pups and wife, but at least it offers an explanation."

"I don't know if Will received any treatment for his grief or not," Terry admitted, "but then I hadn't been born when all this happened, however, it's unlikely just as you said."

"I actually feel sorry for him now," Spencer admitted. "To lose someone you love deeply due to their own stupidity, which is mostly brought on by the fact that you're still incredibly young and have yet to learn that you're not immortal..."

"It's okay to feel sorry for him Spencer," Hotch told his mate gently. "I'm not denying it was a tragedy that shouldn't have happened, or at least William Reid should have received counseling to help him deal with the grief he was the experiencing at his twin's death. However, just because you feel sorry for him does not mean that he does not deserve what's coming to him. What he did to you, your brothers and your mother was inexcusable and you know this. Yes, Robert's death likely affected him deeply, and it's possible that it's the reason for the way he acted towards your family and has been since it happened 35 years ago, but that still doesn't excuse him for those actions. Actions have consequences, and William Reid has had this coming for almost 20 years now. Also, William Reid was well aware that his wife was sick and therefore, wouldn't be able to work to provide for you and yet he still deliberately left you to fend for yourselves, not even leaving you any money. At the very least that's gross negligence and it would be a punishable crime if he was human, but since he is not and the crime is nearly 20 years old, this is the only way to deal with the situation."

"I suppose so," Spencer reluctantly agreed.

"Deep down you know it is, you're just feeling sorry for him, since you learned about his twin brother's, your uncle's death. So back to what you said earlier about most of them," Hotch said remembering and Terry's exact wording, when they were talking about the illegitimate children of William Reid.

"I should've known you would pick up on that," Terry said, having realized as the three of them had been talking that both men were extremely intelligent and observant. Of course, he realized that probably went along with their line of work.

"So what exactly did you mean by most of them?" asked Spencer now seeming to finally come back to himself, which Hotch for one was happy to see happen.

"Well, one of the mothers, the one where the pups were just born a year or so ago and have not yet faced their first full moon where they will change so are not part of the pack, although I do have several werewolves keeping an eye on the situation. I'm not exactly sure how the mother of the quadruplets is going to react, when she learns that her children will change into wolves once they reach two years of age and will need to change after that at least every full moon unless the room they are in is totally dark with no moonlight able to penetrate. However, there is still over eight months before those four pups change for the first time."

"What are you going to do with the mother doesn't react positively?" asked Spencer, already knowing the answer.

"Do what we always do," Terry said with a shrug. "I don't like thinking about having to murder that woman as she hasn't done anything wrong, but we all know that it's a possibility depending on her initial reaction to her pups transformation. Believe me, we're keeping a close eye on the situation and are prepared to interfere if she tries to kill them. Our plans are already in place and have been for weeks now, even if there is still months to go before they will transform for the first time."

"So if you do have to kill the mother," Spencer said his tone sober, "What's going to happen to the pups?"

"Well, we don't kill pups," Terry said. "What Burke did to you and your brothers aside, it's not normally how a pack is supposed to operate as I'm sure you're mate has told you."

"He has," Spencer confirmed, "and from what I've seen for myself I have to agree with him. Burke was an aberration, in his case, someone that was so obsessed with having my father for himself that he was willing to throw three 7 year olds out of their pack."

Hotch was so proud of his mate for the way he was handling talking to the new Alpha of his childhood pack and considering what this particular pack had put him through, even if Terry, himself was in no way responsible, it was still remarkable.

"Well, if the mother doesn't accept the fact that her children are different, the ones I have watching her are prepared to do their duty. The way we have it worked out, is that we'll make it look like somebody came in and killed her with a knife or some other weapon instead of our claws as she lives in the middle of the city, in an apartment and a wild animal attack doesn't make sense in this case. One of the pack has then been instructed to call 911 as a concerned citizen. You know when these types of situations that they'll do a blood test to determine if they have any other living relatives."

"And my name will certainly come up since I work for the government," Spencer said slowly seeing where Terry was going with this, "and so will my father's, but since he's going to be dead by that time it won't matter."

"How are you getting around the fact that it's the full moon and your pack will have to turn into wolves, unless of course, that they are in a totally dark room?" asked Hotch curiously.

"We are using some humans that are part of the pack to do it," Terry explained. "One of them is a man who was formerly in the military, that's married to one of our female wolves. Despite not being Lifemates, they've been very happy together for more than 15 years now. The man, who was a captain in the Air Force, knows how to use almost any type of weapon, whether that be a knife, gun or something else and also make sure there's no fingerprints anywhere. He knows how important it is to keep the secret of werewolves considering what his wife and his pups are and so he agreed that if the mother freaks out and looks like she was about to kill the four children that he would step in immediately. Of course, he knows he's only to do this in order to save the pups lives."

"Well, you're really lucky to have a military man as part of your pack," Hotch told Terry who totally agreed with that. "Thanks to him being former military, he's not going to hesitate if it's to save lives, especially those of children, like a civilian might."

"And also he'll be able to handle killing somebody better than a civilian might be able to," added Spencer. "He'll know just because he was in the military that it was necessary and also that he's never to talk about it afterwards, especially where other people, who don't know what happened, can overhear."

"Captain Rodgers will of course, have backup of several other men, who are the spouses of other werewolves in the pack, even though they're not former military, just in case," Terry explained.

"Once the pups are with childcare services, well, hopefully, they'll move fast, because depending on when the next full moon is well they could have anywhere from a month to five or six weeks before those pups transform for the second time," Spencer said, "and social service people are notoriously overworked and underpaid and they'll likely be put with the foster family temporarily."

"Ah! But what you don't know is that one of our werewolves works for social services," Terry said.

"Well, you have a lot of useful people in your pack," Hotch said his lips twitching in a repressed smirk.

"It just turned out that way," Terry said with a shrug. "The female wolf in question, whose name is Marjorie, is an older wolf and she's been working in social services for over 30 years now. We don't see her around pack territory much, except mostly during full moons, as her pups are all grown, with careers of their own. I won't deny that it comes in useful as we have wolves in several very useful professions, but it's not like they were forced to choose them it just worked out that way."

"So thanks to this Marjorie working with social services, and I'm assuming she's a senior official and has authority by being the most senior agent..." Terry nodded in confirmation, "...well she can take the case for herself and then place the pups with a werewolf family, temporarily."

"I'm going to inform her about you and how you are likely the closest relative, except for your brothers, since your father is going to be dead."

"My brothers won't be in the system, except for things like birth certificates and school records because they didn't choose careers where they have to be fingerprinted," Spencer said.

"So you're likely the only name that will pop up in the quick search that's going to take place," said Terry.

"Well, unless my father had any other siblings that I don't know about and they had jobs where they had to be fingerprinted or were in the military, then yes," Spencer agreed.

"No, unfortunately, William and Robert were the only two pups born to your grandparents, because unlike most female werewolves your grandmother had trouble getting pregnant and then giving birth and unfortunately, c-sections weren't common back then."

"Well then, I should be the only one that pops up in the system," Spencer said.

"So does that mean you willing to take them, if you need to?" asked Terry.

"Well, so long as it's alright with Aaron, then yes, I am," Spencer answer glancing at his mate questioningly.

"Of course, I'm willing," Aaron told him his tone brooking no argument. "I mean I took in my eight half siblings when my mother died giving birth to them and I wouldn't, love you very much or be much of a mate to you, if I denied you the opportunity to take your siblings in. Besides, they're family and family is very important to a werewolf. Well, most of them at any rate We'll have to hire at least one more nanny to look after them while we work as Maddie and Lisa have enough to do looking after my 8 half siblings, but it's certainly doable. You also know how big the house that we are living in is and there's plenty of empty bedrooms."

"Good," Terry said pleased. "It's better to have a plan in place now then be scrambling if the mother rejects them and then tries to murder them, because she believes they are possessed or something, because that way we won't be caught by surprise. Of course, it's very possible that the mother will accept them as they are just like the other mothers did for their pups, but there's no guarantees until it actually occurs."

"In the meantime, let's not worry about it as it still eight months before they change for the first time," Hotch advised.

"So to change the subject back to what we will always discussing when are you going to deal with William Reid?" asked Terry.

"As soon as possible," Hotch said firmly. "As Spencer said earlier, we'd like to at least get some enjoyment out of this trip, a real vacation. Neither one of us likes leaving the team in the lurch and shorthanded, so we won't take a vacation every year and I at least haven't had one in longer than I can remember."

"I'd like to show him some of the sites of Las Vegas while we are here, although I realize we won't be able to see everything in one trip. I believe we'll avoid the casinos and the Las Vegas strip, though as neither one of us is much of a gambler," Spencer said.

"There's still plenty to see even if you do avoid the casinos," Terry said.

"I know, since I grew up here after all," Spencer said quietly.

What he didn't say however, was that it hadn't been much of a childhood, but then he didn't need to as Aaron at least knew exactly what he wasn't actually saying as he gave him a sympathetic look. Terry noticed the look, and had already pretty much guessed what Spencer and his brothers had had to do in order to survive. He figured it was some form of petty thievery, like stealing supplies from different places, a few at a time. After all, three 7 year olds wouldn't have had many options in order to survive and they were smart enough to understand that they could not be placed in a foster home, especially not separate ones, not thanks to the fact that they were werewolves and not completely human.

"This is the first trip Spencer and I have taken together, since we met and became Lifemates, that wasn't for work," Hotch said, "so I would like it to be a real vacation and not just a business trip."

"Hopefully, we'll get many more opportunities to travel, even if we both hate leaving the team shorthanded," Spencer said. "It doesn't help that we're both workaholics, but Aaron's the one that taught me that breaks are very much needed in order to recharge and not burn out since we have one of the toughest jobs around."

"Well, I can call him before the pack if he doesn't appear sometime in the next couple of days," Terry said thoughtfully. "He hasn't been the same ever since he was attacked that Christmas Eve and he doesn't hang around the pack like he used to, except on the full moon, though he tends to skip a lot of them and only appears when he really needs to feel the wind in his fur and the ground beneath his paws."

"He's afraid," Hotch said with certainty. "As Spencer and I explained rape is one of the worst crimes out there and it doesn't matter that Burke didn't actually succeed, because he still created a great fear in William Reid and that kind of thing is not easy to overcome. An attack like that can become part of you and you can to be afraid of your own shadow. In William Reid's case though, since I'm assuming he's still working as a lawyer he's afraid of werewolves now, even though it was just one specific one that attacked him."

"It might've been only one werewolf that attacked him, but it was by someone he trusted, which just makes it worse, because that trust was shattered. However, thanks to Burke's attack, he's now afraid of everybody in the pack or at least of their reactions. I know it doesn't make any sort of logical sense, but then a person's fear never does. As you know a lot of people blame the victim rather than the person who committed the crime, and in this way werewolves are no different. A lot of times, especially in a females case, people will claim that she brought it on herself and true or not that's just the way it is," Spencer added.

"I never thought about it like that, but it makes sense," Terry said slowly. "So say I order William Reid to appear before me and that I want to see him about something. I won't be too specific as that would probably make him run, but once he's there and there are other werewolves around you can challenge him and he won't dare try to run as that would bring him great shame. It'll bring shame not only to him, but to his family even though that doesn't really make any sense, but that's just the way it is. Besides, he won't dare disobey the Alpha's command, even if that summons is delivered by another."

"So he'll have no idea what's going to happen when he arrives at the place the pack gathers," Spencer murmured thoughtfully.

"No, he won't and although I hate to see him dead, he does deserve to face justice, even if it's nearly 20 years late," Terry said.

"You know, he might welcome death, considering what really happened five years ago," Hotch said.

"We need to make sure that Lynda has an alibi as we don't want her to be blamed for her husband's disappearance," Spencer mentioned.

"If there's no body, there is no proof that he's dead," Hotch told Spencer who nodded, "and therefore, the cops who will definitely question her about how a prominent lawyer suddenly disappears, but with no proof of a crime there's nothing they can do. Besides, you said that he defends criminals of one type or another and for all the cops know it could have been one of them that made him disappear, revenge for a conviction is likely one avenue the cops will explore. There are multiple scenarios of what could have happened to him and even if the cops investigate properly, they might never discover the real culprits, but they will be sure that his wife had nothing to do with it. It will be just one of the many unsolvable cases. For all the cops know William Reid could have just decided to walk out on his wife and pups and disappear. It's happened quite frequently after all."

"Yes, that's true, not every case, has enough avenues to investigate to figure out who the killer is and they just end up as cold cases," Spencer agreed relieved as he felt guilty enough for letting Aaron go ahead and kill his father and he didn't want to make his half siblings orphans as well. "Some killers commit nearly the perfect crime."

"Without enough evidence there can be no conviction, even if the cops suspect someone specifically unless they can gather enough evidence to support there suspicions, that's just where the case ends," Hotch said with a shrug. He wasn't at all disturbed that he was talking about leading the cops in the wrong direction so someone's murder or at least disappearance would remained unsolved, but then again he was a werewolf and had grown up with the reality of basically having two lives. There was the life he had with Spencer working for the FBI where they caught multiple unsubs, in other words, he fought for justice and helped give families closure when one of their family members was murdered or just forcibly violated. Then there was his life as a werewolf, a pack species that had their own laws and ideas of justice. Both the wolf and the human part of him were intricately intertwined and inseparable and since he had grown up in a pack he was comfortable in either world, even though you would think that two separate sets of values, morals, but especially ideas of what constituted justice would clash and make him constantly doubt himself and cause a fight within him. However, that was not the case, as Hotch just accepted that both the wolf and the human were just two different parts of who he was and completely necessary, just like all werewolves that had grown up in a pack did.

Spencer, however, was a different case, as because he hadn't grown up in a pack like he should have, occasionally the wolf part of him and the human half clashed as a wolf's idea of justice was often different from the human one, way different. If Spencer and his brothers had grown up in the Las Vegas pack like they should have Spencer's wolfish instincts would've been gently reinforced until he didn't feel any guilt, every time that his two sets of instincts clashed.

"Why don't you give me your phone number and I'll call you when I've set up the meeting with William Reid," Terry suggested.

"Alright," Hotch agreed calmly giving the Alpha his phone number and then Spencer did the same.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	17. Chapter 17

Part 17

"Spencer!" William Reid exclaimed, as he stared at his son whom he had thought dead all these years. "You're alive!"

Hotch, Spencer, Terry and some of the pack were standing in a large clearing deep into the trees. It was several days later and finally Terry had called several hours ago and said that he had contacted William Reid who would not dare disobey the Alpha's command. When Spencer and Hotch had arrived at the clearing with Terry giving them directions, even though Spencer remembered the way and even if it had been nearly 20 years since he had been here. The two of them were greeted enthusiastically and a lot of wolves had come up to apologize to Spencer for not standing up for him and his brothers so long ago.

Spencer had been stunned for he'd figured that nobody would remember what had actually happened since it had been nearly 2 decades ago even though Terry had said that they had never forgotten, but so many people had come up to apologize and to welcome him back that he had to believe that all of them were sincerely sorry for not protecting him and his two brothers.

Spencer had introduced Aaron as his Lifemate and all the werewolves present had been stunned, but still happy for him. A lot of the werewolves had also asked if Dylan and Trevyn were okay and Spencer had assured then that they were fine and they had their own lives. Spencer had also promised to talk to his brothers and convey the pack's apologies. When most of the pack asked why he had returned, Hotch had informed them that they both had unfinished business, with Spencer's father William Reid and the pack had immediately known what that meant, without Hotch having to explain. A werewolf that had a Lifemate was very protective of their spouse and would want to see justice done on somebody like William Reid that had hurt that werewolf's mate so badly, especially since it had been done with full understanding of what the consequences were.

Some of the werewolves had looked at Aaron and saw how big and bulky her was, under his causal shirt and at the fierce gleam in his dark brown eyes and the feral snarl on his lips. All of the wolves present knew that this big intimidating Alpha could take William Reid without a problem and that it would be a short battle, because all the werewolves present knew that the werewolf in question was not much of a fighter.

"No thanks to you," Spencer snarled at him, which surprised every werewolf in the area, but not his mate. "You left your own sons with no money, nothing and with a sick mother, you piece of shit! Do you know what we had to do in order to survive?"

"Spencer! I had no choice," William protested pleadingly. "Burke ordered me to abandon my family, said that they weren't worthy of me. How was I supposed to disobey since he was an Alpha and I wasn't? Not to mention leader of the pack?"

"I don't believe that for a second, as I remember how you acted when I was a child before you left," Spencer said. "I'm not saying that Burke wasn't involved in the decision, but it was still basically your own to make, as I could see that you didn't really love me Dylan, Trev or mom."

"Yes, I did," William protested.

Spencer snorted in derision at that and said, "Please! When you love someone, you hug them and comfort them when they're crying, you don't refuse to even put them to bed and read them bedtime stories and most of all you help them when they're having trouble with bullies at school who left us with multiple bruises on quite a few occasions. As it was pointed out to me not too long ago when you love someone you're proud of all they've accomplished and you don't resent them."

Hotch who had been watching saw Spencer was stalking closer to his father and looked angry enough to punch his father in the nose and with all his fury behind it Hotch had no doubt that Spencer would break it, but since he didn't want his mate to end up with a broken hand or fingers, he stepped forward.

It was time to settle the score.

"You should've disobeyed, because it was an unlawful command," Hotch growled at him stepping forward. "Alpha or not Burke had absolutely no authority to order you to abandon your family. Even if I believed that's what happened and it wasn't just an excuse you still should have at least provided money for them. No, while I believe that Burke might've ordered you to do so, I'm positive it was something you had been struggling with doing, possibly for years."

"And just who are you to accuse me?" William said. "I don't recognize you at all."

"Aaron Hotchner," Hotch growled in a threatening tone of voice. "Spencer, is my Lifemate and I've been wanting to get revenge on you for quite sometime, ever since he told me what his childhood was like, which was all due to you and Burke."

William Reid gulped for now he knew that he was likely to be challenged by this big intimidating stranger and he knew he was toast since Aaron Hotchner radiated menace, loathing and anger and to top it off he had a glare so fierce that he felt as if he had been scorched.

"I'm sure that you and Burke expected them to die in a very short amount of time, but due to their intelligence all three survived no thanks to the father who was supposed to love and care for them and not treat them as if they were nothing. I suspect you were so jealous of them that you couldn't bring yourself to show them any type of affection, so jealous that they were so intelligent."

"But how can you know? They were only seven that when I left," William protested. "No child that young should have clear memories, so how can you believe it so when he tells you things like that as he could be misremembering or even making it up."

Hotch snorted at William Reid in disbelief and told him with a menacing gleam in his eyes and a growl in his voice, "Spencer is one of the most honest individuals I have ever met, not to mention if you remember his memory is also eidetic, which means that he never forget anything he sees or hears whether that happened at age 3 much less or any other time. Besides, certain things stick with you and they were past that age where they would have no clear memories.

William gulped at that as he had indeed forgotten about his oldest son's memory.

"Besides, even if I didn't believe Spencer all these good people do remember what happened all those years ago and how you weren't punished for it, because of Burke. They know that you should've been punished almost two decades ago, but you weren't and now that payment is due. You abandoned all three of your sons, just because I suspect you were disappointed in how they were turning out, even though they were only seven. Seven! I'm sure you believed that they'd be dead within a year, but thanks to their intelligence they did survive and now Spencer works with me at the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. All three of them went to college at just 13 and all of them have several degrees. Spencer is the youngest member that's ever been allowed to join our unit, but because of his skills there was really no other place for him, where those skill could be utilized to their fullest."

The werewolves that were listening to the argument, murmured in astonishment, for none of them had known this, even though Spencer and the team had been in the paper several times none of them had recognized him as he had looked so different. Besides, he hadn't been in the Las Vegas paper and most of the werewolves only read the local newspaper and not one from other cities, so was it any wonder they had not known that he was alive or about his profession?

"I for one am proud to have him on the BAU team and I'm not just saying that because I love him, but because it's very true. He never would have been accepted if he wasn't suitable and he earned his place a long time ago. The whole team are great friends with him and recognize his skills, although I'm the only one that knows much about his past," Hotch roared, so angry he was seeing red.

William backed up a step nervously. He had never seen anybody so furious in his whole life, but if you looked at it from this Hotchner's point of view he had every right to be spitting mad. Even though he had never admitted it out loud to anyone he had indeed left his sick wife and three sons with no money, no provisions, nothing. Even if he had never admitted his crime, which at the time had felt like it was the only thing to do, as he was so tired of dealing with the situation of his sick wife and the three sons he was so disappointed in, the older pack members knew what he had done. Under Burke's orders or not they had made it clear that he should be ashamed of himself for acting so human, as a true werewolf would never have abandoned his family without at least providing for their care.

"You're mate sure is angry," said a female voice to Spencer. "Don't you remember me Spencer Reid?

"Of course, I do, Bella," Spencer said warmly. "You were a great friend until my brothers and I were made outcasts. I at least thought about you often over the years and wondered how you were getting along."

"I wasn't allowed to contact you," Bella said sadly. "I so wanted to contact you, Dylan and Trevyn, but I didn't dare because Burke would have likely made me and my family outcast to if he had ever discovered it."

"I don't blame you at all, Bella," Spencer said gently. "You were only seven just like I was, there was nothing you could have done."

"Thank you for that, I fear you would blame me for not coming to your defense," Bella said relieved.

"Of course not, and you should have known that silly girl," Spencer chided his old friend gently.

"Yes, I should have," Bella replied looking sheepish, "but I feared you had forgotten me."

"I could never forget the only real friends that me and my brothers had," Spencer said warmly.

"I had a little crush on you did you know that?" asked Bella shyly now.

"No, I wasn't aware," Spencer admitted blushing at Bella's admission, "but then again I was only seven at the time."

The two old friends were silent for awhile and then Spencer said softly. "I admit I've never seen Aaron this angry before, but then we've only been mated for a little bit over two years. Normally, Aaron is a very calm and patient type of individual as he has to be because of the job he has. He's the boss of a small unit in the FBI known as Behavioral Analysis Unit or the BAU for short. He's very good at it though and talking to suspects without losing his temper about how many horrible things they've done, unless of course, he needs to, to get the suspect to give him what he wants."

"So how did you two meet?" asked Bella looking at how Aaron Hotchner had William Reid figuratively backed into a corner and how the two of them were still yelling at each other, although it was mostly Spencer's mate that was doing the yelling while William Reid tried to defend himself.

"I didn't know what was going on, since nobody had explained about Lifemates or anything about our history or traditions a laws to me or to Dylan or Trev, but the moment I stepped into Aaron's office for an interview because the other leader of the BAU Jason Gideon had encouraged me to go to the Academy..."

"So you didn't know what was happening when you caught his scent?" Bella summarised after Spencer had quietly finished telling her exactly how he and Aaron had mated.

"No, the wolf in me wanted to trust him, but considering my upbringing I was rather wary of doing that, especially since we had just met. Aaron ordered me to stay after the rest of the team had left for the day and so I did because the wolf in me knew I had better not disobey an Alpha's command. In any case, he took me to his home and introduced me to his eight children which really are his half siblings and was nice enough to explain things to me. I tried to tell him that we should not get involved with each other because we had to work together and he was my boss after all. Besides, at the time, I had no reason to trust him."

"Well, it sounds like you had a quite a predicament," Bella said chuckling merrily.

"It wasn't funny, Bella," Spencer protested hurt that his friend would find his situation so amusing. "I was terrified that I was going to lose a job that I had worked so hard in order to get and also terrified because Aaron told me that since we were Lifemates that we would be having sex, even though we had just met and that I would know afterwards that the two of us belonged together. He made me shut off my brain for a few minutes and just feel and I had to admit that I loved him too, even though it made no logical sense. I have to admit I was terrified, but he was so gentle and understanding and he was right that we belonged together, although I didn't really believe that until afterwards."

"So he kind just took you, even though you were all scared," Bella said. Bella knew intellectually that was just the way it was sometimes, especially to those werewolves who had no idea what was happening to them when they found their Lifemates. In Spencer's case, he hadn't been raised in a pack after he was seven years old so was it any wonder he had no clue what was going on when he and Aaron Hotchner had met?

"Yes, but after the deed was done and I felt the bond snap into place like a puzzle piece. I knew then that he hadn't been lying and that the two of us belonged together. I know myself and I would have kept resisting for months, maybe even years and we would have lost so much time together. Besides, from what Aaron had told me once a mated couple meet they can't be away from each other for any length of time at least not until after the bond is complete, as it will eventually cause both to suicide."

"That's true enough, and has happened in the past," Bella admitted. "I'm very glad that your mate forced the issue, as I wouldn't have wanted that to happen to my old childhood friend."

"I'm glad to and believe me, Bella, I've been happier these last few years than ever in my life," Spencer told his friend quietly as he two watched Aaron and his father fight it out, except by now the two of them had transformed into there wolf forms and were circling each other, but it was clear that Aaron had a plan.

"Aren't you worried about your mate at all?" Bella asked, as she noticed there was no fear in her old friend's eyes, or expression or even his body language and since no one could be that much in control while someone they loved was in danger she knew that Spencer really wasn't worried.

"No," Spencer answered honestly. "I know Aaron's skills and trust me, my father has absolutely no chance against him at all. Passing the Academy at Quantico is extremely hard, and if I could do it, then to Aaron, who is an athlete. It would have been much easier for him, then it was for me, although I won't say it was a piece of cake for him either, but still he would've had far less trouble than I did passing the physical aspects, which were finally waived in my case at Gideon's urgings. As I'm sure you can guess, Aaron has been wanting to kill William Reid ever since I told him of my past, although I did get him to promise that if he had found his Lifemate that he only beat the shit out of him, but not kill him."

"Why do you call your father by his full name instead of Dad?" asked Bella curiously.

"Because he was never really a father to any of us," Spencer explained. "To me, my father's dead and has been since I was seven years old, really even before that. I use his full name instead of calling him dad or father because to me Jason Gideon has more than fulfilled that role and much better then William Reid, my biological father ever did. Jason Gideon is the one that saw my potential when he was lecturing at MIT where me, Dylan and Trev went to college. He's the one that urged me to go to the Academy at Quantico and he promised that he was going to call in numerous favors to pull me directly into BAU and that's exactly what he did. He's been a father figure to me ever since we bonded over coffee and pastries in a coffee shop on campus."

"I would like to meet this Jason Gideon sometime," Bella said. "I would like to thank him for what he did for you."

"I hope you'll get the opportunity," Spencer said, "although I can't give you any guarantees."

"So what did he think about you and Aaron being together?" asked Bella curiously.

"He wasn't very happy about it," Spencer admitted turning his eyes to look at the fight that was going on between the two wolf. Spencer immediately noticed that his mate had the upper hand and he knew that the fight would soon be over.

"Whyever not?" asked Bella in astonishment.

"He's human, Bella," Spencer explained calmly. "He's also older, in his 50s and back when he was born no one would ever admit openly that they were in a relationship with somebody of their own sex and that's the environment he grew up in. Don't worry, we've settled the matter and Gideon knows that he isn't going to break me and Aaron up and although he still doesn't approve he keeps his opinions to himself. We still work well together on cases, and we still play chess and do other things together. Aaron and I try not to be too obvious about our relationship around him and make him uncomfortable, but since the two of us mostly only see him at work and we act professionally while we are on the job it hasn't been a problem so far."

"Well, good," Bella said relieved.

"You know what was hard though?" asked Spencer as he watched his mate fight William Reid.

"What?" asked Bella curiously.

"We had to pretend like we were just coworkers for the first year," Spencer explained. "We couldn't let our teammates know at first that we were together because there was no way we would have been able to explain about the Lifemate bond since we can't tell them about werewolves. The hardest part, was having to sleep in separate hotel rooms, when we traveled because there's no way we could've slept in the same room, as Jason Gideon always shared a room with Aaron, although not the same bed of course.

Bella grinned wickedly at that.

"Unfortunately, we travel a lot so they were quite a few nights that we couldn't sleep together for that first year, but after that we slowly began to let our relationship be known. We didn't tell the team directly of course, we let them figure it out for themselves by using subtle clues. The team is good at picking up on things like that, since you have to be fairly observant to be part of the BAU. Still, it took them about three months to figure out that something was different between us even though we kept leaving them a lot of clues that we were more than just coworkers. We were leaving clues all over the place like Aaron started bringing me coffee when he never had before, you know little gestures like that."

"I'm surprised it took your teammates so long to pick up on it," Bella said grinning wickedly.

"Well, as Morgan said he wasn't expecting his boss and his friend to be in a relationship so don't blame him if he didn't pick up on it for a few months. They eventually did figure it out, though it did take them long enough considering they are profilers. Now that they know though, I've been sharing a room with Aaron when we have to travel for work ever since, which has made both of us much happier, even if we have to act professionally while we're actually on the clock," Spencer said.

The two of them continued talking quietly as they watched the two wolves fight, but finally the big black wolf had the smaller brown one on the ropes and broke his neck with the single bite of his powerful jaws.

Spencer breathed a mental sigh of relief, because even though he had been sure that his mate's life was in no danger he had still been worried, a little anyway.

Hotch for his part went behind a tree where he had left his clothes and quickly got dressed, before emerging and walking quickly over to his mate and the lady that was standing beside him. The other wolves in the pack stopped him several times in order to congratulate him on his victory which he accepted graciously, before continuing his journey towards his mate.

"Congratulations, on your victory," Terry said approaching him.

"Thank you," Hotch said nodding his head and recognition of the leader of the pack sincere compliment.

"Will you and Spencer be staying for a few days?" asked Terry.

"Probably, as we want to see some more of the sites before we head back to Quantico," Hotch said. "We did take two weeks off and it's been less than a week so we have a few days before we need to leave."

"Then might I suggest that Bella show you around?" Terry suggested with a smirk.

"Bella?" Hotch asked in confusion.

"I'm Bella," Bella said stepping forward from where she had been standing beside Spencer. "Spencer and I are old friends. We used to play together along with Dylan and Trev of course. We haven't seen each other since we were seven years old and I would love to spend a few days getting to know the friend I haven't seen in nearly 20 years."

Ah! Hotch thought, so that's who his mate had been talking to. Well, he certainly had no objections to Spencer spending sometime with an old friend that he would've grown up with if not for that bastard Burke.

"Why don't you give Spencer your phone number and he'll call you once we're ready to see some more of the sites. We can spend sometime together getting to know each other," Hotch offered and winked at his mate as Spencer shot him grateful look.

"Thank you, that sounds great," Bella said relieved that Spencer's mate was being so accommodating. Spencer had assured her that Aaron Hotchner was a nice guy and this was proving to true and she was very grateful as she wanted to spend more time with the friend that she hadn't seen in so very long and it looked like she was going to get the opportunity.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	18. Chapter 18

Part 18

"Mrs. Boyle, neither Spencer or I will apologize what was necessary to deal with your husband," Hotch told Lynda, wife of William Reid. It was the very next day after the fight and the two men had gone back to the hotel and Spencer had doctored the few injuries that his mate had tenderly, although he was glad to see that all of them were very minor and would heal in a few days.

"William Reid was a snake and he betrayed his own family 18 years ago and left his sick wife and three young sons, with no money, no provisions, nothing. Now, while Spencer and I both realize that was partly the Alpha of the time Mack Burke fault, he is still responsible for his own actions. I'm sure you know that for a wolf to betray their family, well, he should've been punished 18 years ago for them."

William Reid had not been able to refuse the challenge once issued and in fact, the older man had almost looked relieved as he knew his life was finally going to end. It had been to easy and although Spencer's father had given it his best he was no match for the large black Alpha wolf. The fight had taken less than 20 minutes and then William Reid was dead with his neck broken. Since the fight had been very public. There had been a lot of other werewolves in the pack present who had watched as the big black Alpha kill William Reid very easily. Then again Spencer's father had only been a very weak Beta and was nowhere near the size that Hotch was or in the same physical shape. Really, William Reid appeared relieved that it was all going to end because as Terry Pulley had said he had never quite been the same after the attack five years ago. Lynda hadn't been there for the fight, as she'd had to look after the children and they didn't need to see the death of their father, however, she had known immediately that her husband was dead when Terry had knocked on her door with Hotch and Spencer standing on either side of him.

"Oh, I'm not sorry that he's gone," Lynda explained, tears still leaking out of the corners of her eyes. "It's more I'm relieved that he's no longer here to plague us. When we got married less that 15 years ago for the first year or so everything seemed perfect. We had been seeing each other, even while he was still married and my first set of twins that I had before he could marry me are his."

Neither Hotch or Spencer looked surprised that William Reid had cheated on Spencer's mother Diana and in fact they had already known that he likely had just from what they had found out on the internet.

"You don't look surprised," Lynda noticed immediately.

"We are not, ma'am," Spencer told her politely feeling no animosity towards her because he was well aware what kind of man his father had been. "If you haven't already guessed I am one of the sons that he abandoned with no money or provisions and my mother was the one that he cheated on with you."

"I had guessed," Lynda admitted studying Spencer. "You look too much like him to not be his son, even if you were only introduced by your first name when you first entered and now I know why."

"Yes, well, I can't help my looks and I don't consider that a compliment," Spencer said his tone emotionless causing Hotch to grasp his hand and give it a squeeze of support.

Lynda was startled by the emotionless tone, but then realized that Spencer had been abandoned by his father for no reason that she knew of, so of course, he wasn't going to feel anything, except animosity and hate towards the man whom he shared his last name with.

"In any case, Aaron and I are profilers that work for the BAU unit of the FBI and we had already theorized that my father was not loyal to my mother. It's a very common theme actually, among the human, although werewolves are usually loyal to their families."

"Yes, I know," Lynda said sadly. "Some of the female werewolves of the pack explained all I needed to know about werewolves in general, back when I first married Will and they went against Mack Burke's orders to do so."

"That should have been your husband's job," Terry said speaking for the first time after making the introductions, "but we all know that William Reid was a useless ponce that never did anything, he didn't need to absolutely do. I'm sure he thought it was unnecessary to explain some of our history, traditions and laws to you, at least enough so you understood our kind in general if not in-depth."

"I could tell that Mack Burke, the pack Alpha, until about five years ago was unhappy, even downright furious that Will had married again and at the time I couldn't understand why he was so set against our marriage," Lynda commented, "Now, however, I know why he was unhappy to hear that Will had married again."

"Some things are only clear in hindsight," Hotch said sympathetically.

"After the attack," Lynda began hesitatingly, "Will was never quite the same and while he seemed fine around his own family, as you know he refused to go see any of his old friends in the pack, except on very rare occasions. I believe that when you called him, Terry to say you needed to see him immediately that he knew he was likely not coming back and he seemed relieved."

"Rape destroys a sense of self and although your former husband was not actually penetrated, it was still an attack, even if it wasn't quite as devastating as someone having time to go all the way. Still, he was a attacked and that was enough to create a great fear within him, especially since it was the Alpha of his pack, someone he trusted that had attacked him in the first place," Hotch explained and then went on to tell Lynda what he and Spencer had theorized about the former Alpha.

Lynda absorbed that for a minute and then said, "Personally, I think it's karma, considering that he abandoned his first family, leaving them with no money or provisions and from what I know the wife was very sick."

"She was, mom, had schizophrenia," Spencer explained to Lynda. "It's a disease that often attacks really intelligent people and runs in family lines, although I or either of my brothers are unlikely to get it simply because we're werewolves and there is a lot of diseases that our kind can't inherit. With medicine it can be controlled, but then the catch 22 is that you take the medicine you feel so much better, so you decide you don't need it and so stop, unless you have someone constantly monitoring you to make sure you take it. However, my former father wasn't willing to take up the duty of making sure she took her medication and when he got really bad he just left without a word."

"I'm really sorry," Lynda told him quietly, "I didn't know as Will told me that his wife had wanted a divorce and had thrown him out."

Spencer snorted and replied, "Why am I not surprised that he lied? I don't blame you, although I was prepared to dislike you, because you had stolen him from my mother, but now I know my father was just a cheater, one of those men who have no sense of loyalty to their wife or their children. I always knew, really, ever since I was a small child, but you just don't like to acknowledge the fact that your father is cheating on your mother with another woman, especially since werewolves are supposed to be loyal to their families and the pack in general."

"He really never spoke about you, your mother or your brothers at all, except to say that he was married and had three sons of the same age," Lynda said, "and he only told me that when I asked him why he hadn't asked me to marry him. After he had explained about his wife and sons he claimed that he was still trying to get over his wife throwing him out and that he didn't want to get married again at least for awhile, as it had been a rather traumatic experience for him. Now I know that he was still actually married to your mother and didn't marry me until she had died. By the time we did get married, very shortly after his first wife's death I not only had my twin son and daughter, I was pregnant again this time with quads. I had stopped myself from getting pregnant again until the twins were six, but I know I forgot to take my pill one day and that was enough to get me pregnant again and immediately. Did I want children? Of course, I did, but I didn't want to have anymore until Will and I actually married, as I wanted them to have legitimacy. It wasn't long after that, that Will proposed and as you know I accepted, although I'm still not sure why I stayed with him and didn't just take the children away since he didn't propose for something like six years and the twins were born and we'd been together for years before that."

"So you were together while my father was still married, so don't think I'm rude or anything, but how many years were you a couple as the timeline doesn't match up. Did you get together before he actually left or after?" asked Spencer.

"We were together for quite a few years before the twins were actually born," Lynda admitted. "I'm a lawyer as I'm sure you know and we met totally by accident. I didn't realize at the time he was married and it was only after we'd been together for a couple of years and I asked him if he wanted to move in with me that he told me. When we first met he didn't wear a wedding ring, so I assumed he wasn't attached to anyone, which is stupid I know. I thought he was so handsome this older man who wasn't married and didn't have a family and I was much younger and stupider back then, at least where relationships were concerned. I got pregnant on purpose, as I was hoping that Will would divorce your mother and marry me and I didn't realize at that time that he didn't even like children very much. He saw them as a way to continue the Reid name and that was about it. He paid his son and daughter absolutely no attention, he wouldn't change their diapers when he was home or feed them and left that for the nanny or me. We were together like five years, before our twins Bobby and Lydia were born."

"That means you got together after my father had already left me and my brothers as we were seven," Spencer mused, "even though he was still technically married. What year did you do meet?"

None of the werewolves present failed to notice that the oldest son was named after the brother that he had lost, since Bobby was a derivative of Robert.

"In 91," Lynda answered confused as to why it was relevant.

"My brothers and I would've been approximately 8 then," Spencer mused working out the timeline in his head and realized that it fitted, with the birth of her quads then, "which was shortly after he left permanently."

"So when did he tell you that he wasn't exactly human?" asked Terry changing the subject as this was all new information to him.

"Oh, long before the twins were born as he said that he would have to be gone sometimes and he was smart enough to know I'd probably throw him out if he hadn't told me that kind of big secret in a reasonable amount of time. As I'm sure you can guess I didn't want to believe it at first until he stood in front of me completely naked and transformed. I was so astonished that I actually fainted and when I woke after Will had waved the smelling salts under my nose, well, I was still in shock for quite awhile afterwards."

"I'm not surprised, since werewolves aren't supposed to be real after all," Hotch said with an ironic little smile, "so all three of us can certainly understand your reaction."

"I hadn't thought of it like that, but you're right after all you're all werewolves yourselves and you can certainly understand how dangerous it is to tell someone like me that you exist," Lynda agreed.

"But necessary," Terry said. "Our species would have died out quite a long time ago at least due to inbreeding if nothing else if a lot of us didn't marry humans. Also I'm sure you're aware that it's just as well that you accepted his explanation as you hadn't, unless of course, there were pups involved, but even then if it it had been deemed necessary..."

"Yes, I'm aware of that, it would have been ordered for me to be killed because you can't have anybody who's not part of the pack knowing about your kind," Lynda said soberly and a little bitterly. "Will, of course, didn't bother to tell me this, it was some of the female werewolves that told me about it and the reasons why it was necessary. They had to take me aside when Will was at work and explain quite a few things to me, which I never told him I knew."

"Yes, I'm afraid it is necessary," Hotch told Lynda not unsympathetically, knowing that she'd had to deal with a lot in her years married to Spencer's father.

"You know it takes an unusual person to accept that they're are such things as werewolves in the world," Terry said. "Now, if you had actually loved William Reid, you would have accepted, just about anything in order to be with him then it would be more understandable. But while you and Will lusted after each other you didn't truly love. I'm sorry if this upsets you, but if Will had truly loved you and you had truly loved him then the two of you would've shared everything just like all happily married couples do. I'm not saying you didn't love each other some, but it was a shallow kind of love where you didn't talk about your day or things that were bothering you, you didn't bother to keep that common ground that any marriage or relationship needs in order for it to last. Now, I know that's largely Will's fault and all three of us believe that he wasn't really capable of loving anyone, not truly and deeply."

"A relationship is about equality," Hotch told her and Lynda nodded looking sad. "It's about listening to your partner and taking their opinions into account, it's about maintaining that common ground by going out on dates, or doing nice things for each other just as Terry was saying. If you don't keep the romance in the marriage then it becomes stagnant and you lose the spark you started out with and unfortunately, a lot of humans don't seem to be able to do that so that's why so many marriages end in divorce."

"Aaron and I work together, and while he's my boss while we are working, outside that we're Lifemates," Spencer added.

"You're Lifemates?" asked Lynda in shock staring between Spencer and Aaron.

"Yes," Spencer said looking and Aaron and trying not to blush. "Sorry, I thought it was obvious."

"Well, I did pick up that you were a couple, I just didn't realize that you were Lifemates, which I only know about because that's one thing that the ladies of the pack told me about years ago. Will, of course, didn't bother to mention it," Lynda said studying the two men more closely.

"Well, we are, but while we are working we're not a couple and we make sure that we maintain our professionalism at all times. Now, outside the work arena, whether we are having dinner with the rest of our teammates who know about our relationship, though they don't know about the whole werewolf/Lifemate thing. Or after we have finished discussing a case on the plane, or we are at home, well, we don't act all professional so long as we aren't actually working and we are able to show our affection for each other, just like any normal couple does."

"Your father and I never did that at least not after we got married," Lynda said sadly. "It was like we lived in the same house, but lived two totally separate lives. Before we married we could barely stay away from each other, but once we had tied the Knot it was as if the lost that spark, but then we didn't work to maintain it. I never did understand what happened to cause that."

"That happens a lot, to humans," Spencer told Lynda, "and also to our kind, but from what I know it doesn't happen as frequently."

"No, it doesn't, but some of them like William Reid act human in many ways and think it's okay to leave their spouse without any support. Among werewolves divorce happen, just like it does humans, however, one of our strictest laws is that you need to provide for your pups at least, especially if the mother is incapable of working, like Spencer's was due to her illness. Also, if the spouse doesn't make enough to support however many pups are in the home then the other needs to help with fiances. For a werewolf to leave their former family with no way to get food, to buy other necessaries, to support them when they need it, or to teach them about our history, our traditions, our laws, just doesn't ordinarily happen. In a lot of ways to do what William did is considered almost a worst crime as a werewolf raping another whether human or their own kind. Our pups are our most precious resource and deserve to be loved and cherished," Terry said.

Lynda listened in fascination for this was something she had not known and that those ladies of the pack had not explained to her years ago.

"Now, if the father or mother can't support all the pups they have, because they lost their job or have fallen on hard times and they still want to leave, then the pack steps in and helps out, but that wolf still has to provide what they can afford," Hotch explained.

"Aaron, is right," Terry told Lynda smiling sympathetically as he could see that she had a lot to take in. "Just like in any real wolfpack pups are cherished and for one of our own kind to abandon his own flesh and blood unless there is a very good reason behind it, well, it's something that should have been addressed almost two decades ago, but thanks to the former Alpha it wasn't."

"There is also another level of complexity to the situation with William that you are not aware," Hotch added after a moment.

"What else could there be?" Lynda asked a little shakily, as she was still trying to absorb what she had been told.

"Well, as you now know Spencer and I are Lifemates," And when Lynda nodded Hotch continued in the same vein, "Well, thanks to that fact, I am very protective of him, as I'm sure you can guess. A bond between two Lifemates, well, it's very... intense. For either one of us to lose the other, it usually means the death of the one that survived depending on the situation, but 98% of the time that is what happens. Some wolves can survive without their Lifemate, but feel as if their soul has been ripped in two until they to die, whether that is months, years or even decades later. Now most of our kind that have found their Lifemates, but happen to lose them, well as I said some of them do survive, but most prefer to take their own lives than live with the pain of losing their other halves."

Lynda nodded that she understood again and so Hotch continued, "Now since I am an Alpha, that makes me doubly or even triply protective, which is a byproduct of my rather forceful and take charge personality. Imagine how I felt when I learned of Spencer's past, what his own father had done to him, a father who was a wolf and that should have loved his pups no matter what their personalities turned out to be or their rank within the pack because of those personalities."

Lynda was silent for awhile trying to work out what Hotch was trying to tell her, but finally she said, "You wanted to murder him."

"Oh, yes," Hotch said with a growl in his voice startling the woman that was still grieving for what she had lost, though not for the man himself. "There's a lot of things I would have liked to have done to him and to Mack Burke for that matter. However, a werewolf always makes their challenge known and fights openly, they don't kill the person they hate or their opponent if they are acting as proxy for a weaker wolf by deceit as that is not the werewolf way. Wolves always fight honestly and in front of others of the pack, except the very young pups, and it isn't done behind the pack's back to where you say smother your opponent with a pillow or poison him. Those kind of methods are never even thought of to seriously, as it would be dishonorable and a wolf is always honorable in that type of situation."

"You got that right," Terry growled in agreement. "If any wolf is found to have killed another in a way that is dishonorable, like knifing him in the back for example, well, it's an automatic death sentence, as they are not living up to the values of the pack and have dishonored their ancestors, their Alpha and their family. They are considered traitors to the pack and just like the law where traitors are put to death among the humans the same thing occurs in the pack with the only difference being it's a lot more painful as we don't us lethal injections like the humans do. We do not give the wolf a chance to escape and just like when one of our kind rapes someone they are hung from a tree by their wrists not given food or even water and then they are left there to die, slowly, which is different from what we do to rapists. In any case, it takes quite awhile for a wolf to die, like anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months."

Lynda winced and she knew that would be an extremely excruciating and slow way to die and it was even worse than what they did to rapists, which was quicker, although more painful in some ways. She knew they beat a rapist up and then cut off his manhood and that they suffered other various agonies before a rapist was finally put out of their misery. Both ways, were not exactly kind to the victim, although Lynda could definitely understand the werewolves point of view, even if the lawyer in her wanted to take them to court and convict them in a court of law, but she knew she couldn't.

"However, since I knew that I would have no trouble beating William Reid, because not only am in my excellent shape, I went to training at the FBI Academy at Quantico many years ago now, but I still work out frequently and the fact that your former husband was only a very weak Beta when it comes to personality. Let's just say it's a rare event where a Beta can beat an Alpha, though it has happened in the past, though not one with William's very weak Beta personality and so the possibility of him beating me, a very strong Alpha and not just in personality, were nonexistent. Your husband didn't have the type of aggressive personality required to beat someone like me that does have it, nor did he have the training, or the stamina due to him being out of shape," Hotch said.

"A lot of times the only reason a person is considered a Beta is because it can only be one Alpha who is leader in any wolfpack," Terry explained. "Now while some Betas would be Alphas elsewhere, like within their own families, where they are in charge, when they are following the leader of the pack, which in this case is me, they are considered Betas, no matter what their rank is normally and therefore, subservient to the Alpha of the pack. If I ask one of them to do something Alpha or not they are expected to obey, unless of course, I asked him something that goes against our laws or the human ones, then they have a right, even a legal obligation to tell me that they will not do it and explain their reasons why as calmly as possible. They are not allowed to disrespect me, just because I asked him to do something that goes against our laws, so as long as they are polite when they tell me no and their reasons, well, I can't really do anything to them by law, but only if I'm not like Burke. In William Reid's case, he was a true Beta and never an Alpha, as he just didn't have the attributes of one."

"A true Alpha rules by respect, not fear," Hotch added. "They're always honest, and never ask any of the pack that is under them to do something that goes against our laws or even the human laws. Bad Alphas can and do occasionally become leaders of the pack, Mack Burke being a perfect example of that, however, we all know that Burke should have been overthrown long before he was, by being challenged openly for the leadership, but he was such a tough opponent that most of the werewolves were afraid to face him as they likely would have lost their lives. Also they never dared challenge him out of fear of what he would do to their families if they openly challenged him, because Burke saw nothing wrong with threatening young pups, ones that were no more than a few years old and therefore, defenseless and also the human spouses that many werewolves are married to."

"So you're saying that Burke ruled through intimidation and fear instead of respect," Lynda summarized, "and that's not the way it's supposed to be."

"Yes," Terry answered before Hotch could, "that's what Aaron is saying."

"What do you think of your father's death, Spencer?" Lynda asked the young man who had been mostly silent, although it was apparent that he was paying attention of the conversation just that he didn't have anything to say at the moment. "After all this should affect you and your brothers just as much as it does me."

"I think what happened, was the only right thing to do," Spencer told Lynda quietly. Lynda looked astonished. "Try to understand it from my point of view, our loving father left me, Trevyn and Dylan with a sick mother and no way to take care of ourselves. We were only seven when he left, and if we hadn't been so intelligent and formed a pack of our own we'd be dead. The term lone wolf is a misnomer and our kind don't do well without other wolves around at least sometimes, but especially on the full moon and that's especially true of young children. Now, all three of us knew that there was no point of going to the pack for help, because it had been the pack Alpha that made us outcasts in the first place and I'm sure he expected that we would be dead within a year at the most. All three of us had to do things that we didn't like doing in order to survive and it was still sheer dumb luck that we weren't caught and reported as being without adult supervision. We were always extremely careful to never mention our home situation at school or anywhere else, as we would have been removed from the home and we could not afford to go into foster care, because of the fact that we are werewolves.

"Not only did our so loving father fail to provide for us, he didn't teach the three of us what we needed to know about ourselves and how we were different, he didn't teach us werewolf law, our history or traditions. He might have been our father, but only because he was the donator of the sperm that created us and therefore, we share half his genes and his last name, which is the only thing he ever did for us. Just think of how he treated your children." Lynda winced subtly as Spencer continued, "Well, we got the same treatment, except we had a mother who didn't know what day it was half the time and no, I don't blame mom at all, since it wasn't her fault that she got so sick. No, I lay the blame squarely on the shoulders of William Reid who thought he didn't have a responsibility to take care of us, his own flesh and blood, and in fact wanted to forget we even existed, because we so disappointed him. At least your children are lucky as they still have their mother who is healthy and young enough that she should be able to see all of my half siblings grown and with families of their own when the time comes before you pass away.

"What this long discourse is leading to is the fact that I don't feel sorry for the man who was my father at all, because he left his three sons to die and it's only because we were so intelligent that we didn't. I guarantee you that anybody who wasn't as smart as we are would likely have died years ago, especially if they had been an only child."

Spencer's tone was totally unsympathetic and in fact was completely emotionless. Hotch grabbed his mate's hand and gave it a squeeze and then refused to let go for he could feel that his, Spencer wasn't as emotionless as his tone of voice and body language indicated, and that his emotions were all over the place, which wasn't surprising. Spencer glanced at his mate briefly and thanked him with his eyes before turning back to Lynda and continuing.

"I will never forgive my father for what he did, but now that he's dead at least me and my brothers have closure. I for one will never be able to forget what he did, even though I was only seven because of my eidetic memory. I remember every time he ignored us, every time he failed to comfort us when we were bullied quite badly, because we skipped a lot of grades in school because of our intelligence. I remember how he even refused to put us to bed when we were young or read us bedtime stories, just like all parents are supposed to do. He never comforted us when we were upset and claimed that we needed to learn to deal with these types of situations ourselves, even though we were only children, which a lot of adults don't listen to. Even if they report an incident a lot of times the adults don't do anything about it a child's situation. He never even hugged us, or patted us on the shoulder for a job well done or told how proud he was of our accomplishments, so no, I'm not sorry at all that my father's dead, even if I know I should mourn him, I don't. Dylan and Trevyn tried to please him for the longest time and never could, but as for me I realized when I was about four I could do nothing that would make him proud of me, so I quit trying. For the way he hurt my brothers alone as they will always carry the emotional scars of his disdain and uncaring attitude, I could hate him for eternity, but instead I feel nothing, absolutely nothing, except relief that he is gone."

Spencer shrugged as if to say that he didn't care anymore and had quit caring years ago.

"Me and Dylan and Trevyn, never had a father, not really, so we might as well have been created just from our mother's eggs."

Terry had remained silent as he listened to Spencer's long speech and felt a surge of anger at William Reid even though he was dead.

How could you? Terry asked William Reid in his head. How could you treat your own sons so callously, with such disdain and hate? They were your flesh and your blood William, you should have loved them and taught them everything they needed to know and been proud of their accomplishments, not resented and ignored them. He got no answer and so he mentally shook his head and thought that he was going to have to try to find some way to make it up to someone who was technically, part of his pack, even if Spencer had refused saying that his life was back in Quantico with Aaron and the team now.

"I suppose I can't really blame you," Lynda admitted after a long silence. "Will, might not have physically beaten the three of you, but in some ways what he did was just as bad."

"Let's just forget about it," Spencer told Lynda who nodded and dropped subject.

"I know this is a bad time," Spencer added a little hesitatingly, "but I would like to have some kind of relationship with your children who are my half siblings after all. I would like to get to know them and be part of their lives, you know something along the lines of an honorary uncle, even if I don't get up here very often for visits, because of the work Aaron and I do. As Aaron and Terry were just explaining family is important to our kind and your children and I are related."

Lynda thought about it and realized that she liked all three men a great deal as they had been nothing, but honest and forthright with her from the beginning. True, Aaron had killed her husband, but it wasn't like their marriage wasn't rocky to begin with and she certainly understood why he had felt he had to. In a lot of ways, werewolves were just like their true wolf counterparts and they didn't accept betrayal very well and as Aaron had explained since Spencer was his Lifemate and he was the Alpha of the relationship it was his responsibility to deal with people like William Reid who had hurt his mate so severely and done so intentionally and not accidentally.

Really, the man she had married had been a walking dead man, ever since he had left his first wife and sons with no funds and no way to support themselves. Deep down he would have known it to for William Reid was well-versed in werewolf laws, although perhaps, he had believed that he would never be brought to account for his actions, not until after he was dead anyway. Personally, Lynda believed it was karma or fate, whatever you wanted to call it, as all the wrong he had done in his life had finally caught up with him and come home to roost.

Lynda had to admit that she really didn't miss her husband at all, because really, just like with Spencer's mother, he hadn't been much of a husband at all. Lynda knew deep down that they had been heading for divorce and that she would've had to support 12 children on her own, just like she did now and while she made quite a substantial salary 12 children was quite a lot to support. At least she would also have the money Will made in his life to help with that unless Spencer and his brothers demanded a portion of it, since they were his sons from another relationship where Will had been legally married and therefore, the oldest.

"What did you do with the body?" asked Lynda suddenly.

"In this case, we kept it relatively intact," Hotch answered immediately, "although normally we would burn the flesh off and then grind up the bones and dump the the bone fragments either in the lake or let them be taken by the wind, as in that way no blame can be placed on anyone and he could have just walked out."

Lynda winced at Aaron's very vivid description.

"We figured that you would want the police to find the body, so that you could collect not only the insurance but what money your husband made over the years in order to help you support my half siblings," Spencer added.

"It should be found shortly, as we left it in a pretty obvious location and the only wounds that're visible is a broken neck, oh, and various scrapes and bruises, ones that didn't have time to heal before Aaron finished the job," Terry said.

"You'll have to go through a lot of interviews with the police, but after that well you should be able to claim that insurance and the rest of it for you and your pups," Hotch said. "I tried to do it in such a way that it looks like he just got in a bit of a scuffle and broke his neck on accident. I doubt the police will look too hard into the crime or the culprits."

"Thank you for that," Lynda said relieved. "Will, did take out quite a substantial insurance policy a few years ago and that alone would likely see me and the children set, but also with his earnings from defending the sleazy side of humanity, I'll never have to worry about money again, even if I didn't intend to keep on working."

"Good," Spencer said, "my brothers and I already discussed this and we agreed that we don't want any of our father's money, as we all make plenty with the jobs we now have, so we won't be giving you any trouble about getting a portion of it for ourselves."

"Thank you," Lynda said rising from her seat to walk over and give Spencer a kiss on the cheek causing him to blush and bright red, Hotch to chuckle at his embarrassment and Terry to grin. "You are one of the kindest men I have met in a long time and how you turned out so well considering who your father is I have no clue, unless you got it from your mother."

"It's nothing, really. My brothers and I grew up with very little from the time we were seven as you know, so all of us happy with just the bare basics, although when we can afford it we're not against owning things that interest us, just that we don't necessarily need them in order to be happy, so long as we have each other. I make plenty of money with my job with the BAU for my needs and even if I didn't Aaron would never let me starve," Spencer explained.

Hotch nodded in confirmation of this when Lynda looked in his direction.

"So long as there is plenty of food to eat, unlike when we were younger and went hungry a lot of times, and we have the basics, then the three of us are happy. The three of us are pretty self-sufficient," Spencer added.

Terry tried not to growl at this out loud when he heard about Spencer and his brothers going hungry, because their father had not provided funds for them to buy things like food and just left them without a word.

"I know my two brothers want to start their own businesses, and Aaron has already promised to help them by loaning them the capital, but as for me I'm happy at the BAU as I have made great friends with the team. I never wanted to be rich, just have some meaningful work to do and perhaps, leave my mark on the world by helping to save lives and give families closure. Besides, I never would've met Aaron if I hadn't taken Gideon up on his offer to go to the FBI Academy so for that alone I will always be grateful. Also the fact that Aaron and I work together, is just icing on the cake as we get to spend double, maybe even triple the amount of time together then we would if we were in separate professions or just in different departments within the FBI, because the team travels a lot and are gone for days and occasionally a week at a time," Spencer explained.

"Yes," Lynda said slowly with a nod, "I can certainly understand why you are happy with your work."

The four of them continued to talk for awhile, but finally the three men took their leave and left Lynda to tell her children that their father was dead. However, before Hotch and Spencer left they made sure to give Lynda their phone numbers and Lynda returned the favor all of them promising to keep in contact.

"You and your pups will always be welcome within the pack," Terry told Lynda who smiled gratefully. "Make sure you bring them for as many full moons as you can manage or call me and I'll arrange to have them picked up so that they can run beneath the moon with the rest of the pack."

"I will," Lynda promised, grateful beyond words for the offer as her oldest children tended to be restless on the night of the full moon and they had not had many chances to run with the rest of the pack in the area, mainly due to the fact that Will hadn't been willing to take them, although luckily, she had several female friends that had taken the oldest ones several times at least in the last five years.

"I'll try to come over sometime in the next few days before Aaron and I head back to Quantico," Spencer said. "I'd like to at least start to get to know the children if you don't mind, as I'm not sure how often I'll make it up here to visit, although probably not more than three or four times a year, and likely only for a day or two per visit."

"We'll arrange something," Lynda promised

And with that the three men left.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

"So tell me about, Bella," Hotch suggested, as the two of them drove away in their rental car while Terry took his own.

Spencer felt a smile playing on his lips, as he thought about his friend. "There isn't much to tell really, except that as you probably already guessed we were very good friends until my brothers and I were made outcasts. I won't say that the three of us didn't have other friends, but Bella was by far the best. We did absolutely everything together until that fateful day. She was over at our place so often, that she practically lived with us, so it seemed she was very rarely at her own home. I believe that mom even thought of Bella like a daughter, until she started to get so ill. Bella told me that she was devastated when we were made outcasts and that she wanted to try to contact us, but didn't dare. She was afraid Burke would find out and if he did she and her family would be thrown out of the pack."

"Burke would've done it too," Hotch growled still feeling furious that he hadn't been the one to deal with him, but also realizing that events had happened that had caused Burke to meet his end years before he and Spencer had met. He truly hoped that Burke was rotting in hell and would for all eternity.

"Yes, he would have," Spencer quietly agreed, "so I don't really blame Bella at all for not daring to try to contact the three of us. At least now that Burke is dead Bella and I can renew our friendship. I know that Dylan and Trev will be glad to discover that Bella is okay and still remembers them."

"You don't ever forget good friends, even if they move away or vice versa, especially since all four of you were old enough to remember each other," Hotch said. "I'm looking forward to getting to know her."

"Yep, I'm hoping she can come visit me at some point, even if it's at least a couple of days both ways if she drives, which would be cheaper, then taking the bus or the train," said Spencer. "I'm hoping that we get to see each other a lot over the years since we were denied a chance to see each other for nearly twenty years due to Burke."

"It's just as well that bastard is dead," Hotch growled.

"Yes, it is," Spencer agreed wholeheartedly.

"How come you never mentioned Bella before?" asked Hotch curiously. "We've been together for two years now and I thought we had discussed most things and yet you never mentioned her.

"It was just very private," Spencer tried to explain. "I didn't really think about her to often, because it was just too painful, since she was such a good friend to the three of us until that fateful day. I didn't want to bring up any memories, because although they are very pleasant, the fact that I hadn't seen her in a very long time due to Burke made them bittersweet at the very least. I really didn't think about the fact that we could possibly run into her while we were in Las Vegas, especially while we visited pack territory. It just never occurred to me, but then I hadn't thought of her much in the last couple of years since we got together just once in awhile."

"Alright, I understand," Hotch said thinking about his mate's explanation. "The memories were just too painful and bittersweet in order to bring them up with anybody even me."

"Yes, I never thought that Bella and I would be able to renew our friendship if only because I didn't figure I'd ever see her again. Of course, if that bastard Burke was still alive then I wouldn't have run into her, except totally by accident outside of pack territory," said Spencer.

"Well, now that he's dead you can renew that old friendship," Hotch said with a smile and Spencer nodded enthusiastically, which made Hotch's smile widen because he loved seeing his mate so happy.

"So now that we've done our duty, where would you like to go for lunch?" asked Hotch changing the subject.

"Anyway you choose really, because as you know I'm not used to eating out a lot well, except at fast food chains or at least I wasn't until after the two of us met. I'm sure you can understand that Dylan, Trev and I always bought the cheapest possible meal at places like Burger King, McDonald's or someplace similar."

"Yes, I am as you once told me if you never saw the inside of a place like that again you'd be happy, since you lived of the cheap food in that type of place in college," Hotch said with a smile in his voice even though he sympathised.

"My brothers and I didn't want Gertie cooking for us all the time and so we agreed that we'd only share their food as little as possible, which explains why we hate fast food now. Besides, places like that don't exactly have the healthiest diet in the city, so luckily, the team never chooses places like that to eat," Spencer said gratefully, "at least not so far."

"No, we're more diner or occasionally somewhere a little nicer type of people at least while we are working," Hotch said. "We very rarely eat in fast food places like Burger King or McDonald's. We like to be able to go to a restaurant and sit down and actually enjoy our meal and not get it to go or rush though it unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Well, good," Spencer said pleased.

"Besides, you get more food at diner type place and not just a burger and fries, in other words, a full meal and it takes a lot to fill up someone of mine or Morgan's size," Hotch said with a wolfish grin.

The two men were silent and both kept their eyes open for a decent place to get themselves some lunch, before they went sightseeing with Bella in a couple of hours.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	19. Chapter 19

Part 19

"So how was the vacation, kid?" Morgan asked Spencer as soon as he entered the BAU the first day after he and Aaron had gotten back from their vacation.

"It was great," Spencer said enthusiastically and indeed he and Aaron had had a lot of fun exploring the city and spending time with Bella. Of course, he had also spent a few hours with his half siblings as well especially the older ones getting to know them and vice versa of course. "We had a very good time and it was just what we needed, which was to get away from work for awhile.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," JJ said coming up and giving him a hug and kissing him on the cheek. "I missed you these last couple of weeks."

"Well, I'm sorry we left the team shorthanded, but we really needed the time away," said Spencer. "It was good for us and our relationship."

"You can't work all the time," Emily said joining the others in the bullpen, "It's not good for you to not have a break every once in awhile."

"Well, I'm glad you had a good time, pretty boy," Morgan told him sincerely ruffling the younger man's dark brown hair.

"Yeah, we did," Spencer said with a slow easy grin, "and to make it a great trip I ran into an old childhood friend of mine that I hadn't seen in years."

"Oh! An old girlfriend?" Emily teased.

"No, just a very good friend, to me, Dylan and Trev," Spencer corrected. "Considering the three of us were seven the last time we saw her I don't think any of us were thinking about girlfriends at that young an age."

"Why not? I did," Morgan said with a smirk.

"Yes, well you were something of a pervert Morgan," Spencer teased his friend.

"I was not," Morgan protested, "I just had a thing for girls at a young age."

"Well, not everybody's like you, Morgan," Emily told her friend with a smirk.

"So what's this lady's name?" Morgan asked with a raised eyebrow changing the subject deliberately.

"Bella Jensen," Spencer revealed with a smile.

"So you were good friends up until you were about seven," JJ commented.

"Yes, we were and that's when father left and she stopped coming around," Spencer said honestly, although not completely truthfully.

"Maybe she wasn't as good a friend as you thought," Morgan suggested.

"No, that's not Bella, she's honest and forthright to the bone. Those were very trying times for me and my brothers and her parents might have forbidden her to come over for all I know, although normally she would do what she wanted, but in this case she didn't."

Spencer, of course, knew the real reason why Bella had stopped visiting, but it was not one he could tell the team.

"So what does this friend of yours look like?" asked Morgan curiously.

"Why I know you were going to ask that, Morgan?" Spencer asked rolling his eyes.

"Because you know how he is with the ladies?" JJ suggested with a smirk.

"Boy do I ever," Spencer said rolling his eyes again and Morgan just tried to look offended, but grinned instead. "Since I knew you would likely ask Morgan, I took a picture with my phone."

Spencer brought up the picture that he had taken, of his friend Bella and then showed it to the others.

"Wow! She's really gorgeous," Emily commented that she studied the picture of a lady around Spencer's age that had the same brown hair as her friend, except lighter, with streaks of natural blonde and instead of having brown eyes like Spencer, her eyes were a startling silvery gray, which was a very unusual color.

"Yeah, she is," Morgan agreed, as he studied the picture.

"Well, you might just get to meet her in person as she promised to try to come and visit," said Spencer. "I'm hoping we'll be able to see each other at least a few times a year, although whether I go up there or she comes down here is yet to be determined. She'll of course, be staying with Aaron and I instead of wasting money on a hotel room when she does come to visit and Hotch has already agreed."

"So, Hotch is not jealous?" asked Morgan with a raised eyebrow.

"No, because he knows very well that I'm not interested in Bella as anything more than a friend," Spencer told Morgan and the others. "He is a profiler after all and he's able to read both our body languages and knows that we aren't interested each other in that way and so doesn't mind if we spend time together to renew our friendship."

"You know Hotch isn't really the jealous type," JJ told everyone, "Not unless he sees the obvious signs that Spence is interested in a woman in that way."

"Which says a lot about how confident he is normally, but definitely in his and Reid's relationship," Emily said.

"Yes, it does," Spencer agreed. "Besides, as I said I'm not interested in Bella in that way and Aaron is well aware of it, so he knows he has nothing to worry about."

They all continued talking for a few minutes and then Morgan said, "So are you going to tell Garcia about this?"

"Of course," Spencer said immediately.

"Well, you know what she'll think," Emily said, "and that is that the two of you would make a cute couple."

"Yes, well PG is a romantic at heart," JJ said, "and there's nothing wrong with that."

"And even if Garcia believes Bella and I would make a cute couple as you put it isn't going to happen," Spencer said seriously, "as neither one of us thinks of the other that way and even if Bella did have a crush on me, Aaron and I are in love and I don't think of my friend that way."

Morgan didn't say anything, but he thought that this Bella would be a good match for his friend, but he had to accept that Spencer didn't swing that way and while it was possible he was bisexual, he had already decided that Hotch was the one for him and there was nothing that could shift him on that view. Besides, the two of them were deeply in love, he could tell and it wasn't just mutual lust and attraction, so even though he didn't like it, even he wouldn't try to break up what Reid and Hotch had. He wouldn't succeed anyway, and he would lose the younger man he had come to consider a little brother if he tried and Hotch wouldn't be too happy with it either, so it wasn't worth it. He thought it was a shame that Reid and Bella just thought of each other as platonic friends, but that's just the way it was as Reid had made his choice and he wasn't going to change his mind just to make him or anybody else happy and he shouldn't have to.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

"You know I've been thinking," Spencer told Hotch as the two of them lay on the couch together, with Spencer laying on his mate's broad chest, both men's long legs tangled together.

"About what?" Hotch asked when Spencer didn't continue.

"Well, I was thinking, if we do have to adopt those children, if their mother doesn't accept the fact that they're werewolves and will change on the full moon, that we might not want to go through with the idea of having some of our own as taking care of those children, plus the other eight will give us plenty to handle," Spencer explained.

"I still want to have some of our own," Hotch said calmly, as he had been basically thinking along the same lines and he should've known that his mate was thinking about it as well. "Sure having so many pups is rather unusual, especially multiples, I'll admit it. However, I have plenty of money to hire another werewolf as a nanny or even two and this house is plenty big enough if we do decide to go that route for each of the children to have their own room."

"But won't it be rather suspicious?" Spencer asked trying to think about the situation logically.

"Probably," Hotch admitted. "However, as long as we have a logical explanation for where all the pups came from and we make sure that all the loose ends are tied up there is no way that anybody can prove that we did anything wrong, because we haven't. If someone decides to investigate then it might be rather unusual to have so many pups and a little suspicious since most families only have two or three children, there's nothing that anybody can do."

"You know Strauss will try her best to find a way to dismiss you from the team and she might be able to do it due to the suspiciousness of the situation. She will expect you not to protest the decision, because I'm sure she'll think that we got so many children illegally or something. Not to mention she doesn't know about our relationship, but if we have all these little copies of you and me running around and she happens to see us together, well she's not stupid, and she'll be extremely suspicious at the very least."

"So long as she can't prove anything she can't do anything," Hotch promised his mate understanding Spencer's worry.

"You know we've been trying our best to keep our relationship low-key and all because of that woman, I just feel that if we do have to take in my half siblings because their mother doesn't accept them when they change for the first time into werewolves that adding our own children into the mix at least right now might be too much," Spencer explained his reasoning.

"Well, we'll see, there's no point in worrying about it until it actually happens and that's still months away," Hotch said.

"Which will pass fast, considering the last two years have seemed to speed by," Spencer said.

"We can wait awhile if we happen to get charge of your half siblings on having children of our own, but we can't wait much longer because Anastasia isn't getting any younger and the obligation she feels to me or not I would never put her life in danger by carrying our pups and Thierry would never let me anyway. I know she is only a few years older then you are, but I know she and Thierry want to have a few more pups of their own after they have ours and they are planning to stop by the time she hits 40 just to be on the safe side as the older you the more dangerous a pregnancy is, even if you have a c-section done."

"Having so many children at one time is best done when you're young and healthy," said Spencer, "at least if you have multiples more than once and if they are planning to stop by the time she is forty you're right we can't afford to delay to long or we're going to have to find another surrogate."

"You know if we didn't work for the government, especially such a prominent department our having as many pups as we like wouldn't be a problem, but thanks to that...bitch we need to be really careful as the last thing we need is for her to be suspicious," Hotch said his voice a growl.

"Yeah, I know," Spencer said quietly as he buried his face in the side of his Alpha's neck. "You know I've never told you this before, but I love laying here on your chest with your arms around me and burying my face in the side of your neck. There is no other place I'd rather be."

"Good, because I love having you laying right where you are," Hotch growled his voice extremely protective. "The Alpha in me loves having you, his mate, so close."

"Well, we still have time to make a decision," Spencer said. "It's still seven months or so before those children turn into little werewolf pups for the first time."

The two of them the two of them were just enjoying being together alone and not having to worry about acting professionally for a change. Their getting time alone together was a rare commodity considering there lives were so busy and they enjoyed every moment they could squeeze out where there was no one else around, but them.

"So when do you want to have our commitment ceremony?" asked Spencer quietly

"Well, we said within six months," Hotch said, "and we still have a few months to go, although we don't necessarily have to hold it within that timeframe. I would really love to have a full blown wedding ceremony, instead of the commitment ceremony we're planning mostly because of Strauss."

"So would I, but I'll take what I can get," Spencer said. "Our idea for a commitment ceremony is not too far away, so we need to start thinking about what kind of jewelry we're going to use for the ceremony as we both consider rings too dangerous because they're too noticeable."

"We could still use rings, but keep them on chains under our clothes," Hotch suggested.

"That's an idea," Spencer said thoughtfully. "We'd have to be really careful to take them off whenever we make love since we can very easily break whatever kind of chain we have them on, since werewolves are quite strong, so it would be easy."

"Yeah, that's true, and a lot times we're pretty... energetic in bed," Hotch said with a smirk, even though Spencer couldn't see it, he could however, hear it in his lover's voice.

"Energetic? Is that what you call it?" Spencer laughed.

"Can you think of a better word?" Hotch asked.

"Well, let's see…what about wild passionate lovemaking, or rough and tumble sex or mindblowing orgasms?" suggested Spencer with mirth lacing his voice.

Hotch laughed at his mate's words, although every single description fit like a glove. "Yeah, those work to. You know I'm going to take you out to dinner," Hotch said suddenly reaching a decision. "We hardly ever have a chance to do that, due to how busy we are either with our jobs or with the pups, so we might as well take advantage of this quiet time, because we both know it won't last."

"You don't have to do that, Aaron," Spencer protested.

"I don't have to no, but to tell you the truth I'm in the mood for a nice big juicy steak as rare as they can cook it, although that's not the only reason I made the suggestion, since I could always do some steaks for us on the grill. No, the main reason I suggested as we need to get out, and do things like going out on dates, even if they have the chance of being interrupted by work. We can't stop doing things like that, just because like a doctor we risk being called in. You deserve a romantic evening out and both of us deserve time for just the two of us, sitting across from each other with a lit candle in the middle of the table creating a soft ambiance and talking about everything under the sun, except work. We wouldn't want our relationship to go stagnate, because we stop doing things like dates, just because we risk getting interrupted."

"You're right," Spencer agreed finally. "We really haven't been out to eat lately, except with the team, but that doesn't count."

"No, definitely not," Hotch immediately agreed. "As much as I think of the team as part of our pack, even though they's human, that's definitely not what I had in mind for a romantic dinner."

"No, definitely not," Spencer repeated snickering. "I can just see Morgan now making some kind of off-color comment."

Hotch snorted at that, because it was true.

Spencer got off his mate's chest reluctantly and once he had stood up and stretched, Hotch also stood.

"Why don't you go get dressed in something semi-nice and I'll see about making a reservation at somewhere nicer then we usually go to?" Hotch suggested gently.

"Yes, sir," Spencer said sarcastically snapping a mock salute causing Hotch to chuckle.

"Go get dressed pup," Hotch ordered playfully and Spencer obeyed with a grin.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

"Welcome back to the BAU, Dave!" Hotch greeted his old friend David Rossi.

"Thank you, Aaron," Rossi said, as he sat in Hotch's office.

Jason Gideon had lost a good friend on a case a few weeks back and that had reached his breaking point. He'd decided that he'd had enough when a friend he'd had ever since college more than 30 years ago had died and so he resigned from the BAU. This meant that for the last few weeks the team had been incredibly shorthanded. They had managed, but the strain was getting to everyone, even Hotch.

"I don't know why you wanted to come back though, since you left more than 10 years ago," said Hotch.

"Let's just say I have some unfinished business," Rossi said.

"I don't know why you'd want to put up with Strauss," Hotch said with a half smile, "as she's not exactly the easiest person to get along with."

Rossi snorted at that and corrected, "That's just a polite way of saying that she's a bitch."

"Yes," Hotch admitted without an ounce of shame.

"So I've been hearing some rumors," Rossi mentioned as he studied his old friend.

"About what?" Hotch asked maintaining an expression of neutrality, although he suspected he knew very well what rumors his old friend had been hearing.

"About you being involved with another man, one of your teammates no less," Rossi said and waited for his old friend's reaction.

Hotch shrugged, and said casually not at all offended, "The rumors are true in this case, however, you don't know the whole story behind it."

"So what is the story?" asked Rossi. "The real story."

"Well, for one thing we're trying to keep it low-key mainly because of Strauss. You know that Strauss would go out of her way to put one of us on a different team or even fire one of us, likely me, just because she's a vindictive bitch," Hotch said. Rossi nodded, as that really did make sense, as he knew Erin Strauss well, since they had once dated many years ago now and what he had ever seen in her he now hadn't a clue.

"I won't say anything, it isn't my place," Rossi promised.

"Good," Hotch said keeping his expression neutral, although on the inside he was relieved even though he knew intellectually that his old friend would never report his relationship to Strauss.

"Basically, the story is that Reid came to join the BAU on the recommendation of Gideon and in fact Gideon found him at MIT and he appeared way too young to be attending the lecture he was giving," Hotch began.

Hotch took his time explaining the whole basic story to Rossi, the same one he had explained to the rest of the team back when they had found out about his relationship with Spencer.

"So you're saying that you developed a gigantic crush on this Dr. Spencer Reid shortly after you met him, but you didn't say anything for a year as you want sure he felt the same way," Rossi began.

"That's part of the reason," Hotch admitted, "but also at that time Spencer was still trying to find his place on the team, so I didn't want to interfere with that process of him becoming more integrated into our unit. Also I was sure my feelings would disappear, eventually if I didn't acknowledge them and so I didn't say anything for that reason either."

The second part of Hotch's statement about how he was sure his feelings would disappear if he didn't acknowledge them was absolutely untrue, but Hotch knew that there was enough truth in the statement for his old friend to accept it at face value. Besides, it wasn't like he could tell Dave that he and Spencer had been together since the two of them had met and the reason behind that so half-truths were best.

"I never saw you could swing that way," Rossi said.

"I never knew I could either," Hotch admitted, "as I've always dated women in the past, but none of them make me feel the way that Spencer does. Considering what you know of my upbringing you shouldn't be surprised that I didn't realize I could swing both ways. I never imagined before Spencer and I met that I could swing that way as I'm sure you can guess, but it might explain why every date I've been on with a woman, the relationship eventually failed. If I had realized that I liked men and revealed that fact to my parents back when they were both still alive my father would have beaten me with an inch of my life and my mother would have at least yelled at me at the top of her voice and told me that I wasn't her son. I would have likely been disowned by both of them."

And it wouldn't have mattered one jot that Spencer and I were Lifemates my father would still have tried to break us up, Hotch thought to himself sourly, although he didn't say it out loud.

"Well, yes, that's true enough," Rossi admitted then changed the subject. "So I heard from a little birdy that your relationship is so serious that the two of you going to have a commitment ceremony."

"We are," Hotch said with a shrug. "We would love to do the full blown wedding thing, but we're trying to keep it as low-key as possible because of certain factors."

"You mean Strauss," Rossi said immediately recognizing what wasn't being said.

"Yes, she's the main reason," Hotch agreed. "You know just as well as I do that it won't matter that relationships are allowed between two employees of the FBI even if they work in the same unit just so long as they can prove that they can work together and act professionally. I'm not saying that it isn't discouraged, I'm just saying it isn't against the rules, however, thanks to the fact that Strauss has a vendetta against me and wants to get rid of me in anyway possible, Spencer and I don't dare go that route for she would find out and we both know very well what her reaction would be."

"She would use the excuse to fire your ass," Rossi agreed.

"Yes, she would and while I could likely successfully fight it, I don't particularly want to drag Spencer through that if I don't have to."

"You're sounding very protective, Aaron," Rossi smirked at his old friend.

"You would be too if you realized what a horrible childhood he'd had," Hotch growled at Dave sounding fiercely protective, which surprised Rossi. Before Rossi could say anything Hotch calmed down on his own and said apologetically, "I'm sorry Dave, but as you can see I'm just very protective of him."

"Wow! You really love him!" Rossi said in wonder as he stared at Hotch in astonishment. "I've never seen you lose your temper like that before not even when some of the more annoying asshole LEOs piss you off."

"I do," Hotch admitted with a little smile playing on his lips. "He is one of the nicest, most intelligent, unassuming young men you will ever meet. If you knew how much our percentage of solving cases has gone up just since he joined the team you would understand why Gideon wanted him in the BAU, even though he's incredibly young and didn't spend time in another department first. His memory is eidetic, which means he only has to read something once and it's permanently learned and he has an IQ of 187, and has more trivia and facts stored in his head then anyone I've ever met, so you can guess that he had no trouble passing the academic portions of training at the Academy. Gideon was his mentor and urged him to go through the Academy promising to pull him directly into the BAU, because he felt that his talent would be wasted anywhere else and he was right about that as Spencer never would've fit in any other department and even if he did I doubt very much that other agents would have appreciated his talents."

"You're right, they likely would've done their best to keep him down for as long as possible," Rossi admitted knowing that a lot a agents didn't like being shown up, especially not by someone they would consider an upstart kid. "They would've seen him as a young upstart, that no matter how intelligent didn't belong in the FBI. Of course, it would all depend on what department he was placed in and who the agent in charge was. So how old is this Spencer Reid?"

"Do you mean now or how old was he when he first joined the BAU?" asked Hotch

"Both," Rossi said.

"Well, as I said he was incredibly young, as he was just 23 when he finished the Academy, but he's nearly 26 now. He went to college at 13, graduated at 21 and he has several degrees, the first of which he got by the time he was 16," Hotch said.

Rossi whistled appreciatively. "I know you said he was intelligent but I've never known anybody to go to college at such a young age."

"Yes, well, if he and waited until 16 or 18 which is the normal college age he would've had nothing to do, but hang around his hometown of Las Vegas and trust me, that would not have been a good thing."

"A reference to that terrible childhood you mentioned?" asked Rossi with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, but I'm not going to give you any details as that would be breaking Spencer's trust and I won't do that, because for one thing he has a terrible time trusting people and if you ever break it you'll never get it back. I promised him, back when we first got together, that I would never betray his trust and he told me that if I did, even if he loved me he'd never trust me again and that's not a risk I'm willing to take, as I won't lose him. He's one of those people that once you break his trust, especially if it's some kind of betrayal, well, he's not going to take the risk of trusting you again, which as I'm sure you can guess is largely due to his upbringing," Hotch explained.

"I don't blame you," Rossi said understanding where his old friend was coming from.

"I tell you he could've chosen anything to do with his life like start up a business of his own where he would make scads of money, something he would have succeeded at doing in just a few years. However he decided to use his talents to help other people by joining the FBI instead," Hotch said shaking his head in wonder as it still amazed him considering his upbringing. "Even now he's increased the money I got from my parents upon my father's death and then my mother's ten years later, by about 3%. He doesn't have a business degree, but he sure does have the head for it. People like Spencer Reid, come along perhaps, once in a generation, or even less often and I'm not just saying that because I love him, as you'll see what I mean soon enough."

"I'm sure I will," Rossi agreed thinking about how much his old friend had changed since the last time they had seen each other, which was to be expected for when you were in love, as you often changed for the better.

"What about children though?" Rossi asked.

"Have you forgotten that I have my 8 half siblings that I adopted a few years ago to look after?" asked Hotch with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not saying that Spencer and I won't try to adopt in a few years or even go through the IVF process, but not for awhile. There are other options to have children nowadays if we decide to go that route."

"Yes, that's true enough," Rossi admitted.

"Besides, if we have children, you know Strauss is going to find out about relationship, not to mention we're going to have to go to the trouble of finding surrogate to carry the embryo or embryos if we decide on twins or even triplets. And if we try to adopt the same thing about Strauss finding out applies," said Hotch.

Hotch didn't mention how Anastasia an old friend of his had already offered to carry any pups, as his old friend didn't need to know that right this minute.

"Yes, that's true," Rossi agreed.

"In any case, that's a decision for the future and something Spencer and I will discuss at length before making any decisions. Both of us have to agree it is the right course of action to take before we go through with it," Hotch said.

"You're lucky you know the two you work together," Rossi said, "which means you get to spend way more time together then you would otherwise, even if a lot of that you can't let other's know you are in a relationship. Someone who travels for work so much well, has broken up quite a few good relationships in the past."

"Your three marriages included," Hotch snorted.

"Yes, well, part of my problem is that I got so busy building the BAU and went chasing bad guys, that life passed me by and I didn't work to maintain my marriages. Unlike popular belief marriages are work and unfortunately for me, I didn't learn that until too late, you on the other hand, won't make my mistakes and even if this Spencer Reid didn't work for the BAU you wouldn't let the fact that you are gone all the time affect your relationship. Of course, this Spencer Reid also has to have confidence in your relationship and know that you're not going to cheat on him while you are gone and I know how hard it is for some people to trust that their spouse is loyal to them, which is one reason so many marriages break up," Rossi said.

"Yes, I'm well aware of the statistics," Hotch said giving Dave a look and Rossi looked back unflinchingly. "However, we trust each other, and I have no intention of breaking that trust by word or deed."

Of course, there was no way he could tell his old friend that he and Spencer would ever break up because of the Lifemate bond. Humans didn't really have such things, but really what it meant was that he and Spencer would be together until the day one of them died and the other would soon very likely follow, as lifemates were that close.

"Both Spencer and I know what our feelings for each other are and no matter how quickly they came about we still know how we feel about each other and there is no way that anyone is going to break up our relationship just because they don't approve of it," Hotch said, as calmly as possible.

"So how did the team take the news when they found out?" asked Rossi particularly interested in Gideon's reaction.

"JJ and Garcia took it well, so did Emily when she joined the team and Elle before her. However, as I'm sure you can guess Gideon didn't take the news too well, especially since he considers Spencer his protégé and like a son. He eventually came to accept the fact that he wasn't going to break us up, but he did try to tell us that we were wrong and that we shouldn't be together, because of the fact we were both men. He came up with all these arguments like how Spencer's two brothers would react to the news among other things. He tried to point out that Spencer was too young to know his own mind and that he didn't have any experience in that area and that he should try dating first before settling down. You know the usual types of arguments that you try to use in such situations," Hotch shrugged.

"I take it the two of you shot him down," Rossi said trying not to let his amusement show. He wasn't saying that Gideon wasn't an intelligent and genuinely compassionate man, but he did have a few hangups including the one against same-sex relationships, which he had known about for sometime, since he had worked with him on building the BAU for years. However, Gideon was just a product of his upbringing, as when he had been born same-sex relationships were frowned on even more back then then they were in today's society and a lot of people were ridiculed when it was found out that they were gay. Of course, in what was now the 21st century that still happened, but the stigma wasn't as bad as it was back then. Still, humans were still humans and so some people still objected on pure principle, but still a lot more people accepted same-sex relationships in today's society then they had even 20 years ago. As for him he had decided a long time ago to mind his own business and so long as nobody shoved their beliefs in his face then his philosophy was live and let live. Besides, he was Italian and they had a different view on relationships in general.

"Yes, because Spencer pointed out to him if he was old enough to have a job at the BAU and since he was 24 at the time he was certainly old enough to know his own mind and how he felt. He pointed out to Gideon that he had been taking care of himself and his brothers for years and as much as he thought of Gideon as a father he wasn't going to allow his mentor or his friend to try to break up his relationship. He didn't lose his temper once and he was calm, cool and logical the whole time. He also pointed out that even though he thought of Gideon as a father figure he had no right to tell him what to do as he was a grown man," Hotch smirked.

"Ouch! That must have stung!" Rossi exclaimed.

"Yes, ouch," Hotch agreed with a little smile, "the whole team could tell how much that hurt Gideon when Spencer pointed out those things. I'm not saying that the things Spencer said weren't true, just that it was Gideon who had to decide if he was going to abandon the man he had come to consider a son because of his stigma against same-sex relationships or if he was going to get over it and support him. Now you know, which way he eventually did decide."

"And I'm amazed that he did because I've known Jason Gideon for decades and I know how he felt about same-sex relationships," Rossi said.

"Well, he was never comfortable with the idea of us being together, but he did come to a eventually accept it, even if it took him a long time," Hotch said with a shrug. "Personally, I didn't care one way or the other as his attitude didn't bother me, but I did want him to at least get along with Spencer since the two of them were so close and I knew that losing Gideon's friendship would have devastated him.

"You never have cared about other peoples opinions of you," Rossi said with a smirk. "You don't care if you come across as a hard ass."

"No, I really don't," Hotch smirked back. "On the other hand, Spencer is more sensitive and he does care what people think of him, but then he's still pretty young as he's only 26 and a little shy in certain situations. He's more watch from the background then run in and take charge type."

"He'll get over that once he gets some confidence and experience," Rossi said and Hotch nodded in agreement

"He's already changed quite a bit, from when he first started here over three years ago," Hotch admitted.

"You know I seriously doubt that you two would have gotten together if he was an Alpha male like you are, since they would tend to clash with each other a lot on various issues. Of course, I know very well that a lot of times opposites attract, but I can't see you falling for anyone male or female that was also an Alpha and the take charge type," Rossi said.

"You're right, about that," Hotch said smugly with a smirk causing Rossi to grin. "I'm not saying we don't have the occasional argument, just as all couples do no matter their personalities after all, but for the most part we get along just fine."

And when we do argue I just prove who's in charge of our relationship and Spencer usually backs down, Hotch smirked to himself. Of course, the fact that it led to some mindblowing sex afterwards was only a secondary consideration or so he told himself

"So you mentioned a couple of people that were against your relationship?" Rossi pointed out, "and you've only told me about Jason's views on the subject.

"Well, the other person that objected was Derek Morgan, a big black man that you'll meet shortly," Hotch explained. "His objection wasn't the same as Gideon's as he has nothing against same-sex relationships. In his case, it was just that he considers Spencer a little brother since he only has two sisters and considers him a total innocent in need of protection. I have to admit that Spencer does come off as the total innocent that doesn't know a thing about relationships and things like that. I think the reason Morgan begin to think of him that way is he's very quiet and self-contained, although he more than pulls his weight with the team, because if he didn't he wouldn't be on it. Unlike some of the other members he doesn't say much about his private life, as he's very reluctant to talk about it, especially his childhood and believe me, he has reason to be. Spencer finally managed to get it through Morgan's thick skull that his private life was none of his concern and the only reason that the team was finding out about our relationship is that we wanted to be able to share a hotel room when we were out of town on cases instead of me sharing with Gideon and Spencer with Morgan. We always act professionally while we are working, but I don't see any reason that we should be separated when we are done for the night."

"There is no reason you should be," Rossi immediately agreed. "Personally, I don't have a problem with you two wanting to share the same bed and at least sleep together."

"Well, good," Hotch said pleased.

"You should know me well enough to you know I won't object to your relationship so long as you are happy and Spencer to of course. Besides, it none of my business. I don't ever butt into other people's lives unless they ask me for advice or because someone I care about is being emotionally or physically hurt. Personally, my philosophy is live and let live. I've seen too much in my life to have a stigma against same-sex relationships, as I'm sure you're aware Aaron," Rossi explained.

"Yes, I am," Hotch agreed. "I certainly didn't have anything against them when it refers to other people. You already know I tried to deny my feelings for months before I finally gave in and because I did I couldn't be happier."

"And that's all that matters, no matter what anybody else says your relationship is nobody's business and your private lives are your own," Rossi said firmly.

"On that point we totally agree and Spencer will to," Hotch said with a smirk. "If anybody dares object or starts spouting of how we are unnatural and the like if they find out about our relationship, well, I know how to put somebody down without losing my temper and Spencer really has a way with words when he's annoyed. Those people won't know what hit them I guarantee you. In some cases a person might not even realize they've been thoroughly told off until they've had time to think about it."

Rossi smirked at that, but said nothing.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

"So has anything been planned for the ceremony?" asked Rossi.

"Yes, it's all taken care," Spencer said looking at Hotch adoringly. "We're having the ceremony in our backyard and we made sure to tell Garcia to keep it simple as she can be rather over-the-top if you don't set down some ground rules in advance."

"I'd noticed," Rossi smirked.

"Hey," Garcia protested.

"Well, you are, PG," Emily smirked at her friend.

Rossi had only been back for three months now and once the others had gotten over there rather initial first impressions of the legendary David Rossi, they now all worked well together. They all missed Gideon of course, Spencer in particular, but they knew that he wasn't coming back and so had adapted.

"In any case, my two brothers will be coming for the ceremony, so you'll all have a chance to meet them as I know you've been wanting to and so is my friend Bella from my childhood," Spencer reported.

"Ah so we're going to finally meet the lady that you and your brothers were friends with until you were seven," JJ said looking excited.

"You are and I'm sure you'll like her," Spencer said with the grin looking forward to Bella's visit. "I'm really looking forward to seeing her again as I haven't seen her since Aaron then I were up in Las Vegas a few months ago."

"We'll have to plan a girls night out," Garcia squealed looking excited at meeting Spencer's brothers and also the girl that had been his best friend.

"I'm sure Bella would enjoy that," Spencer said, "but you'll have to talk it over with her, as I don't need to know what's involved in a girls night out."

Rossi snorted at that.

"Yes, everything's been arranged," Garcia promised, "and I kept it simple just like Hotch and my baby wanted."

"Good, because it's only going to be as simple uncomplicated commitment ceremony. We would love to have a wedding, but with Strauss being like she is, there is no way we can manage that as it would generate paperwork, paperwork that can be tracked, while the commitment ceremony doesn't," Hotch said.

"Having a commitment ceremony is just fine," Spencer assured his mate. "We can always have a wedding at a later date if Strauss ever retires or is fired whichever one comes first. We're only doing this because it's what we want, as I don't particularly care about what people think about us supposedly living in sin. We want to do this for family and friends to show them that we're committed to each other and a commitment ceremony will accomplish that."

Hotch squeezed Spencer's hand under the table to let him know that he understood the message. He knew that his mate had become a great deal more self-confident in the last year or so and he was glad to see it happen. He also knew that his relationship with the younger man had a lot to do with that as did the team's friendship and respect of his abilities. Spencer had never had anybody's respect before, as other people would just be nasty to him and say untrue things when they found out how intelligent he was and how he sometimes liked to spout off facts about what he knew not seeming to be able to help himself or at best just ignore him. Nobody except his brothers, Leo and Gertie and the team had ever accepted the fact that he was at least three times more intelligent then at least 90 percent of the populace, along with his brothers of course.

"I don't really care either what other people think and that includes Strauss," Hotch said. "Still, this commitment ceremony is a way to confirm to our family and friends that neither one of us is leaving the other and that's what it's really all about, not about the commitment itself, because we both know we are committed to each other and I don't see that ever changing."

"That is so sweet," JJ said.

"And romantic," Emily added.

"We would have liked Gideon to be there or at least I would have," Spencer corrected knowing his lover didn't care one way or the other, "but due to what happened to that long time friend of his he's still grieving and I don't see that as a possibility."

"I can try to get a hold of him for you," Garcia suggested.

"No," Spencer said shaking his head, "losing a friend he had known since college nearly broke him and I really don't want to bother him in his grief. It's only been four months or so since it happened after all and I'm sure Gideon is still grieving for his friend Sara that was killed by Frank."

"So since everything is arranged when do you want to hold it?" asked JJ.

"Next weekend if possible," Hotch answered.

Hotch didn't mention the fact that next weekend was a good time as any as it was still over a week before the full moon where he and Spencer would turn into their wolf shapes in the light of the moon and likely go running with the pack if possible.

"So long as we don't catch a case, next weekend is good for Spencer and I. Of course, if we do we can put it off until we have a free weekend available, even if that means that my siblings can't stick around for it or Spencer's brothers."

"I'm hoping we can pull it off this weekend and that we aren't already on a case or get called in," Spencer said

"So where is Morgan?" Emily asked looking at everybody suddenly. "I would think he'd be here."

"He claimed he had a date and so couldn't be here," Hotch snorted, "but I could tell that that was just a polite lie because he didn't want to be involved in this discussion."

"Well, this kind of discussion isn't really his thing," Garcia defended her friend.

"It's not really mine either and yet I'm here," Rossi pointed out.

"Morgan is still having trouble getting it into his head that I'm in a relationship with another man much less someone who's older and also technically my boss," Spencer said quietly. "He's not really comfortable with that fact, even though he sees how close we are. He'll be there for the ceremony, he promised me that and that he won't duck out on it, but he's still not really comfortable with the idea of me and Aaron as a couple, which stems from his overprotectiveness of me. He'll either eventually accept that I'm definitely not breaking up with Aaron just to make him happy or he won't. He's the one that has to make a choice and nobody can make it for him, not me or any of you," Spencer said quietly.

"That's sad, but true," Garcia commented. "Just when I think he's going to accept that Spencer and Aaron are a package deal he gets stubborn and doesn't fully accept it and I don't know what I can do to convince him further."

"Well, at least is's not affecting our teamwork, because if it was Morgan would be in trouble," Hotch said his voice stern. "So long as it doesn't affect him when we're actually working a case then I can live with it."

"And at least he's finally stopped hovering over me," Spencer said, "as that one getting rather annoying."

"Hovering over you?" Rossi questioned.

"He would watch me when he thought I wasn't paying attention," Spencer explained calmly. "I often thought I could feel his eyes on the back of my neck when I was doing paperwork in the office for example and a few times I caught him at it and he immediately turned away and pretended that he wasn't watching me. I know he was looking for signs that Aaron and I had been fighting and he would then swoop in and supposedly protect me. He considers me a total innocent, even though this is far from the truth. Just because I don't talk about my past does not mean that I am what he believes me to be. He should know by now that I'm not as innocent as I seem to be, but he's having trouble accepting that I'm not some kind of figure whose pure and untouchable."

"Is that really what he believes," Emily laughed and everybody else chuckling as well.

"He does," Garcia said still chuckling. "Believe me, I've had many discussions with him trying to convince him to lay off and just accept it, but I have yet to succeed."

"Well, he needs to get over it, as I miss the friend I had for that first year before Aaron and I decided that we were attracted to each other and going to get involved. I know that it is often said that first impressions are the ones that last, but he needs to get over that and move on. I would think he would get the point when Aaron and I brought up the possibility of a commitment ceremony or a wedding depending on circumstances and I did think for awhile he had finally given in and just accept that our relationship could not be changed, no matter how much he really wants it too. He did promise me that so long as I was happy he would accept Aaron's and my relationship, but he's already broken that promise or at least bent it, even though I assured him that I was perfectly happy and that our relationship had been both our decisions, not just Aaron's."

"He's eventually either going to have to accept it or he's likely going to leave the BAU," Hotch said. "I would hate to see that happen for he's a fine profiler, but he needs to get the idea out of his head that I forced Spencer into a relationship, as I know that's what he thinks from the way he glares at me on occasion, when he thinks I'm not paying attention."

"Believe me, I've seen him and I've had words with him more than once," Spencer snorted.

"He keeps telling me that Aaron is leading me astray and he's sure that I was forced, even though he's known Hotch for years and knows at least in his head that he would never do such a thing. I believe it's his heart that's giving him trouble, not his brain."

Technically, Morgan was correct, Hotch thought with an inner smirk. He had forced Spencer into that first lovemaking session, but only because he had known that the two of them were Lifemates and he knew that Spencer would understand what he had been trying to tell him after the first time they'd had sex. After that though, once Spencer had realized that he had been speaking the truth, well, he hadn't had to force him to do anything and in fact Spencer had become quite the wildcat in bed and also immediately forgiven him for technically, forcing him that first time, which Hotch had known would happen so hadn't been worried. Lifemates never stayed mad at each other for very long as the bond between a couple that were fated to be together was just too strong.

"His heart just won't accept the fact that somebody he loves as a brother is gay or at least bisexual and he keeps telling me that I need to date a lot before I decide to settle down with a specific person. I told him that not everybody has to date in order to find the person they know they'll be happy with and that's what happened to me and I wasn't even looking. I really had no interest in dating at all, until Aaron and I had met as I never met anybody my own age that I liked to spend more than a few hours at a time with, as most women or men for that matter wouldn't look at me or my brothers more than once. Most of the girls and boys me and my brothers went to college with considered us upstarts or kids that had no business being in that environment because we were too young, even though our intelligence was above-average."

The whole team snorted at that including Rossi, as he had since learned that Aaron had been absolutely correct as Spencer Reid was a very intelligent individual, smarter than any three people put together and yet he wasn't all arrogant or full of himself like a lot of really intelligent people were, so he found that Aaron had been right about that too. It was nice to know that Aaron hadn't let his feelings for the younger man cloud his profiling ability as he had been spot on in everything he had told him about his lover Dr. Spencer Reid.

Spencer shrugged his shoulders as if to say that he didn't care one way or the other, but then said, "I would hate to lose Morgan's friendship, but it's still his decision. He's the one that's got to decide whether or not he's going to accept mine and Aaron's relationship or not."

"I can talk to him," JJ suggested. "Try to make him understand that he's hurting you by his attitude and his unacceptance of your and Hotch's relationship."

"That's okay, JJ, I don't want you to go to any trouble for me," Spencer said shaking his head at his friend. "If Garcia can't get him to give up his attitude and the two of them are so close then you have no chance. Don't think I'm unaware of how stubborn Morgan can be once he gets it into his head he's in the right, even when he's not. Morgan's going to have to make a decision on his own and anybody who tries to force the issue, especially one of his teammates will just see him dig in his heels. What happens, will happen."

"Sound advice," Hotch complimented his lover, as he swung an around his shoulders not caring who saw him do it considering that all of them were off duty and therefore, there was no need for either him or Spencer to act professionally.

"But Morgan's attitude is hurting you," Emily protested agreeing with JJ, "just as Gideon's leaving did. I know you can understand why Gideon left and you accepted it, but Morgan's just being mulish."

"He's allowed to be mulish if he wants," Spencer pointed out logically with a shrug. "He'll either come around on his own or he won't. However, I can out stubborn if I have to and eventually he'll be forced to make a decision and either having to work around me and Aaron every day with his rather annoying attitude or he'll leave the unit, because I'm not going to and Aaron definitely won't. So long as we can still work smoothly together I can hide my disappointment in his attitude and I just won't hang around him when we are not actually on the job. I'll stop accepting going out for drinks with him, even if I don't do that all that often or any other activities."

"We'll just have to show him that his attitude isn't going to force us apart, and maybe once he sees that it's hurting the man he considers a brother he'll straighten up," Hotch commented. "I don't hold out much hope of that, since we all know Morgan's as stubborn as the day is long and once he gets an idea in his head it's hard to shift it, but it's still possible."

The four continued to talk for awhile, but evidently they all got up after they had finished their meals and paid their separate checks and headed back to their own homes.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	20. Chapter 20

Part 20

"Bella! It's so good to see you!" Spencer exclaimed rushing to give his friend a hug causing and Hotch to chuckle, as he wasn't at all jealous, since he knew what his mate's feelings were and knew there was no need to be.

Normally, his mate was the calm and steady type and rarely got excited, but Hotch could certainly understand that excitement, since Spencer and Bella had been good friends at one time and that relationship had just been renewed after not seeing each other for 18 years, due to Burke throwing his mate and his brothers out of the pack and his father's abandonment.

"It's good to see you too, Spence," Bella greeted her friend with a smile, returning the hug. "I'm so looking forward to you and Aaron having this commitment ceremony."

"Well, that's not for a couple of days, so you'll stay with us while you're here and you said you wanted to meet some of the pack last time you were in town and we didn't get a chance, so we can do that this time. There are quite a few that make their home around the pack clearing, that's part of pack territory that's part of the forest in Washington DC. Quite a few of them hang out at this bar in order to socialize that's owned by werewolves called the Full Moon."

"I would love to go there," Bella said looking excited.

"If we have time we'll take you," Hotch promised interrupting the two. "Today is Friday and both Spencer and I took the day off, and we shouldn't be called in, but you never know when you work with the FBI, the BAU in particular, since we could be called in, even on the weekend if the case is particularly urgent."

"So you don't even get all your weekends free," Bella said.

"I wish," Spencer said shaking his head. "Normally, we have the weekend off unless we are already involved in a case in some city at that time. But we can be called in for something like a child being kidnapped, as the first 48 hours are critical and in that case, our so-called weekend, technically, our free days gets interrupted."

"It doesn't happen too often thank goodness," Hotch said, "and neither Spencer or I expect it to happen this weekend, just be aware that it could."

"Well, I hope it doesn't, as I've came all the way from Vegas to see you guy's commit yourself to each other, although I'm surprised it's not a wedding ceremony."

"We'd love to get married, but that creates paperwork while a commitment ceremony doesn't or at least not a much and Aaron's boss Erin Strauss...well, let's just say we are trying not to let her find out about our relationship," Spencer tried to explain.

"Ah! So she is something of a bitch I take it," Bella said understanding what wasn't being said.

"Yes, she is," Hotch said with a smirk at Bella's rather dirty mouth, which made him like her even more. "Relationships between teammates are allowed, so long as it can be proven that the people involved can still work together, but Strauss would use the opportunity to probably fire me."

Hotch left quite a bit out of his explanation, but then Bella didn't need to know and the young lady understood it was a private matter and so didn't ask any further questions.

"If we're ever able to have a wedding ceremony we'll let you know," Spencer promised.

Bella knew that was unlikely to happen unless this Erin Strauss was out of the way, but she said nothing.

The three of them continued to talk, although Hotch mostly kept his silence and just listened to his mate and Bella chat away about everything under the sun. It was really good to see his mate relax and chat with Bella. It was simply wonderful to see Spencer have other friends, besides him and the team. It was becoming quite clear to him that Bella and Spencer had indeed been very good friends at one time and they were working hard to renew that relationship, which was absolutely fine with him, as everybody needed friends they could hang out with on occasion, even if it wasn't very often.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

"You're hurting my brother with your attitude you know," Trevyn said coming to sit down at the same table that Morgan was at, Dylan joining him a moment later.

It was the weekend of the commitment ceremony which had been simple, but beautiful and very moving as Spencer and Aaron committed their lives to each other. The ceremony had only taken about 20 minutes, and after that a small reception had been planned with food and even a small area to dance for the people that were interested.

All in all more of Hotch siblings had made it then the man himself had thought would be possible, but he was happy to see all of them and for them to meet Spencer.

Of course, Spencer's two brothers had also made it.

As promised Morgan had supported his friend at the ceremony but afterwards he was sitting at one of the tables that had been set up kind of looking around at all the happy couples and just played with his plate of food that he had gotten from the buffet. Morgan hadn't bothered to bring a date, not only because he wasn't actually dating anyone at this point in time, but because he didn't want anybody, much less some woman he was dating to know about Spencer and Hotch's relationship. What made it worse for him was that the commitment ceremony was very similar to a wedding in a lot of ways where they recited vows to each other and the audience, which was making him melancholy.

"What do you mean?" Morgan asked looking up as the to brothers joined him at his table.

He had met Trevyn and Dylan for the first time just yesterday when they came into town for the ceremony that was the very next day. The two brothers hadn't even had to stay in a hotel as Hotch had offered them two of his guestrooms and also said that he would like to talk to them about something after the ceremony.

"I would think it would be obvious, especially to someone as intelligent as you supposedly are," Dylan said rolling his brown eyes at the big black man. "Spencer claims that you are an intelligent man and yet for the last year and a half you've been acting like a moron. You do know that the way you've been acting, just because you don't approve of his and Aaron's relationship is hurting him, don't you know? If you don't you should have."

"Don't bother to say anything, because you've been acting like an idiot and you refused to admit it. I haven't seen Spencer this happy in, well, ever actually, and yet you're trying to ruin it with your attitude as his happiness should be all that matters to anyone that considers himself his friend."

"He hasn't said anything," Morgan protested. "At least not directly."

"Oh, yes, he did on the plane awhile back he told us all about that," Trevyn same. "He tried to explain to you why he was happy with Aaron that you promised to try to accept and yet you didn't. Then you started hovering over him annoying him, although I know he didn't say anything to you at least not at first, but then again that's not his way."

"Spencer isn't one to show how much someone hurt him emotionally or even physically. I'm afraid it's an inbuilt trait considering how our father left when we were seven and he didn't want to show us how much that hurt him, although we of course, knew."

"He also learned to hide how much someone hurt him because of all the bullying he faced when we were in school, because we were years ahead of our peers. Our mother couldn't help us, because she was so sick and we didn't want to worry her," Dylan added.

"And yet you are supposedly his friend and he considers you a third brother and you're treating him like shit. Either accept that his relationship with Aaron isn't going to change, or stay the hell away from him," Trevyn growled finally looking fiercely protective. "He's been hurt enough by people who didn't appreciate him and that includes our own father."

Morgan listened as the two brothers berated him for his attitude and he realized that he truly had hurt somebody he cared about just because he was being so stubborn. He had realized a long time ago that it just wasn't stage Spencer was going through and yet hadn't fully accepted that his friend was in love with their boss, another man and not a woman. It wasn't that he was against same-sex relationships per se, as he saw to much in his job to be, but the idea of Reid and Hotch together offended him, because Hotch was their boss and much older then Spencer was.

His mother had used to say that not everybody was the same, because if they were life would be extremely boring and stagnant. Morgan knew she hadn't been talking about a person's sexuality at that time, since he had been about 10, but it still applied to this situation.

"Instead of just being happy for him, you decided hold a grudge. You should know that Spence, young or not, would never have allowed himself to be forced into a relationship if it wasn't something he wanted like you believe and Aaron would never do that anyway and deep down you know that," Dylan added. "Your subconscious is just trying to come up with an excuse for your crappy behavior."

"Neither one of us can force you to apologize and start to be a real friend again," Trevyn added glaring at Morgan who looked away as he couldn't stand Trevyn's stare for long, as it made his insides squirm guiltily. "We are not your priest or your conscious, but you have to decide as to whether or not you want to start acting like a real friend or continue to let the distance between you grow until it is unfixable. As it is, it's going to take forever for you and Spencer to get back to that close friendship you had the first year and that's only if you do something about it in the next few weeks."

"So are you going to continue to let your resentment and dislike fester or are you going to fix it?" Dylan demanded.

"I'll talk to Reid as soon as I get a chance," Morgan promised knowing that he was going to have to grovel, which the Alpha male in him didn't want to do, but he also knew it was necessary for it was his fault that he had let this situation develop in the first place. He had been so upset at the fact that his friend and his brother was in a relationship with another man, one who was older and also their boss that he hadn't been paying attention to his friend's pain, which was all because of him. He had been hoping to break them up or see them end the relationship themselves, but now he knew that wasn't going to happen, had always known really, so he was going to have to try to fix this situation that he had created through his own stubbornness, as he had been determined to be right.

In a way, he had been as bad as Gideon, who hadn't wanted to to accept Reid's and Hotch's relationship either, although he had eventually given in and just accepted that it could not be changed. He, on the other hand, had had to be stubborn about it and he just hoped that he could fix his relationship with the younger man and that Spencer would forgive him for being such a stubborn, blind fool. Of course, in order to talk to Reid, Hotch was likely going to be there as well and his boss wasn't as forgiving as Reid would likely be and he was going to have to prove that he had indeed changed before Hotch would allow him anywhere near Spencer alone and for that Morgan wouldn't be able to blame the man at all if that's what occurred.

"Good," Dylan growled and Trevyn nodded decisively in agreement.

"Hurt our brother again and we'll come for you," Trevyn growled softly glaring at Morgan who lowered his head in shame, "and there won't be enough left of you to be identified."

Morgan accepted the threat with good grace knowing that it was Trevyn's way of warning him to never hurt Spencer again.

"There's no need to threaten Trev, I'm sure Morgan understands that he's never too hurt our brother again, isn't that right?" Dylan asked pleasantly, but with a threat present in his tone. Morgan nodded looking abashed.

"Good, so long as we understand one another," Trevyn said calming down.

"You need to accept that Spencer's perfectly capable of taking care of himself and he's not as innocent about the world or the dangers in it, as you believe him to be. I don't care what you believe, but he's told you time and again about the fact that he used to take care of not only himself, but us. He felt it was his responsibility to look after us because he's the oldest, even if it's only by about five minutes and Spence takes his responsibilities very seriously, always has," said Dylan.

"And he did a bang up job of it too, as we wouldn't have survived without him," Trevyn added.

"Also you should consider the fact that if Spencer does get in trouble, which is unlikely, Aaron won't let anything happen to him, since Alpha males in general tend to be pretty overprotective. I mean just look at how you've been acting for over a year and you aren't even in a relationship with him. If you've been acting all Alpha male and overprotective just imagine how Aaron will react if Spencer really got himself into a bad situation, considering that Aaron loves him."

Morgan considered that silently and knew now or at least could now admitted it that Hotch would likely go ballistic if Spencer really did get himself into a bad situation. He could see now that Aaron Hotchner really did love the man he considered a brother and that Reid had bloomed from the relationship, had gained more confidence and wasn't as shy or quiet as he'd used to be.

"Besides, the work you guys do is dangerous anyway and any of you can be killed at anytime, but if you keep putting yourself in danger to protect Spencer you're going to get yourself killed and how do you think that's going to make our brother feel if you do?" Dylan said.

"Our brother hasn't had many people he could consider close friends, much less family, just us and Bella, before he got a job with the BAU and made friends with all of you. You have not actually betrayed his trust yet, just hurt him emotionally with the way you keep acting towards his and Aaron's relationship. I'm warning you now if you ever do betray him and he finds out about it he will never trust you again and you will lose that close friendship you had that first year," Trevyn told Morgan seriously.

"Our childhood was such that it really wasn't conducive to learning to trust anyway and so betray him by word or deed and he will simply freeze you out of his life entirely," Dylan added seriously.

"He'll work with you, but never talk to you about personal things or make comments about his family or let you know anything about how he's really doing," Trevyn said. "Spence has always been very protective of us and has always considered himself the most responsible, because he's the oldest. Spencer has always known what to do, even when he was a child, but one thing we always will love him for was that he always asked for our opinions and never made any decisions without us."

"So you are saying that I need to stop being so overprotective and let him live his own life?" said Morgan.

"The man finally sees the light!" Trevyn joked then said more seriously, "You're on the right track. Spencer doesn't need protection from Aaron and no, I'm not saying that he won't need to occasionally be protected from those that mean him harm, but Aaron isn't one of those people."

"Alpha male personalities are very protective when they have discovered their mates anyway," Dylan added.

"What do you mean mate?" Morgan asked looking at the two sharply.

Dylan and Trev looked at each other and then Dylan answered calmly fibbing a little, "It's just a word that means when you know you have found the one for you, the one you want to spend the rest of your life with and it fits better don't you think then husband since both of Aaron and Spence, are male?"

Of course, the word had a much deeper meaning for werewolves, but they couldn't really explain that to Morgan, so they had to give him another answer that satisfied him and luckily, the word had several meanings including being slang for best friend in England, which had of course, had made it's way to America.

Morgan hadn't thought of that and he had to admit the brothers explanation did make sense.

"Yeah, it does," Morgan admitted after a few minutes of thought relaxing.

"That was all my brother meant," Trevyn said, trying not to let his relief show on his face or his body language.

"Why do you call Hotch, Aaron?" Morgan asked curiously.

"It's his name isn't it?" Dylan cheeked relieved that that they had managed to divert Morgan's rather suspicious nature.

"Besides, he asked us to," Trevyn added. "He told us that we were family now and to call him, Aaron."

Morgan decided that definitely made sense, because Dylan and Trevyn were now related to Aaron Hotchner, well, not through marriage, since it had only been a commitment ceremony, but still Reid had chosen his mate as Dylan had said and so there was a tenuous connection between Trevyn, Dylan and Hotch now, even if they couldn't precisely be called his brother-in-laws since Reid and Hotch weren't technically married. That might change sometime in a few years if Strauss ever retired or was caught in some kind of criminal activity that saw her fired at the very least or even sent to prison, but not at present.

"Yes, I suppose you are, even if Reid didn't technically marry him," Morgan agreed.

"Only because of Erin Strauss," Dylan scowled catching Morgan by surprise. "Our brother has told us all about her and how she's not a nice lady. Aaron's family and that's all that matters to us and not the legality of the fact that he isn't technically our brother-in-law."

"We love Aaron already, as if he was our own older brother," Trevyn added. "You know that our father abandoned us when we were seven and so we love having people that are as close as family around us whether they're related or not."

"I mean the man didn't have to offer us two of his guestrooms as we could've stayed in a hotel and yet he insisted that we stay with him and Spence and he hardly knows us. He didn't want us to waste our money when he and Spence have plenty of room," Dylan remembered.

"He told us that we were his family now and he wouldn't see us staying in an expensive hotel or even a cheaper motel when he had plenty of room at his place," Trevyn said.

"His hospitality, meant everything to us, as does his permission to call him by his first name," Dylan said his voice full of emotion.

Morgan tried to figure out why these two things were so important to the brothers and then it hit him like a sack of bricks. None of the brothers had ever had someone's respect before and they'd had to look out for each other ever since they were seven years old or even before. From what he knew of Spencer's past he had been severely bullied and Morgan assumed the same had been true for Dylan and Trevyn as that was the logical conclusion. It was unlikely that Spencer had been the only one bullied, since the triplets apparently always stuck together and they had all been the same age. Kids didn't like to be shown up as he well remembered from his own time in high school. Of course, a lot of adults didn't like to be shown up either, which was why nobody had respected Reid's talents until after he had joined the BAU. So Hotch's respect by allowing them to call him by his first name and his hospitality would mean everything to Dylan and Trevyn as that meant that they were accepted by the person that their brother had chosen to settle down with and that made them happy. Morgan could certainly understand that, although he had never lacked for friends like the three brothers had, but then again he had been a popular sports star as he had been on the football team of his old high school in Chicago and had girls swarming around him for that fact alone.

"Now that we've managed to talk some sense into your stubborn head, we had better rejoin of the guests," Dylan said.

"Because if we don't Spence is going to come looking for us," Trevyn added.

"And trust me, you don't want him mad at all three of us as he would cream us alive if he knew we had talked to you about your attitude," Dylan continued.

"As he thinks it's his problem and he doesn't want us interfering," Trevyn added.

"But we had to do something, because neither one of us likes hearing or seeing our brother unhappy," Dylan said.

"Especially not after all we had to go through when we were children," Trevyn finished.

Morgan wondered exactly what Reid had been through, except for the bullying and his father leaving when the triplets were 7 that he didn't know about, but he didn't ask, as he knew that he wouldn't likely get an answer. After all, the three brothers deserved their privacy just like he did and he had no right demand information, since it was none of his business and he certainly wouldn't like it if Reid suddenly butted into his personal life. Besides, he knew that the younger man would tell him politely to butt out if he tried, all three of them would actually so he didn't bother.

"Come on, let's join the others," Dylan suggested rising from his seat, Trevyn following.

Morgan put his plate of food aside and also rose and followed the two brothers to where the other guests were enjoying themselves.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

"You're serious? You hardly know us and you're offering to fund whatever businesses we want to start?" Dylan exclaimed looking at his new brother-in-law in astonishment.

"I am," Hotch told the two brothers calmly while Spencer just grinned at his siblings while he was sitting at his mate's side. "So long as both of you have two separate decent business plans that I can have my attorney go over before I invest the money. Of course, if the two of you want to go into business together then you only need one business plan. Spencer told me that you two wanted to own your own businesses and that we're saving up the capital. I then offered to help you out and he was going to contact you and ask, but then I said we were going to see you in a few months anyway for the ceremony so we'd just wait until then."

"So what do you think?" Spencer asked his siblings.

"I think it's very generous and incredible offer," Trevyn told Hotch with a grateful. "You don't have to though, as Dylan and I will eventually have the money to start our own businesses, even if it takes us a few years to get to that point."

"I know you would eventually be able to fund your businesses yourselves, but why wait 20 years to start your own business or get a loan from a bank when I'm making this offer?" Hotch asked reasonably and the two brothers looked at each other. "Starting up a business is expensive and takes an enormous amount of capital, so I'm offering you a no interest loan and this way you don't have to go to a bank where they'll likely charge you a ridiculous amount of interest."

"Why are you making this offer?" Dylan asked not suspiciously, just curiously.

"Because you're now part of my family," Hotch tried to explain. "I know it's a very unusual concept among the humans, at least not without getting something in return, but packs try to help each other when they can, whether that's as a nanny to help look after the packs pups or in some other way, like helping one of the pack when they fall upon hard times, it doesn't matter. If one of our kind is hurting for example then we try to help depending on what it is. Now, I realize that sometimes aberrations like your father pop up, a werewolf that acts more human then one of our kind and doesn't care about anyone except himself. For the most part though, packs help each other whether that's just a shoulder to cry on or for some more serious reason. Trust me, I have the funds to help both of you out and even though Spencer doesn't have a business degree he has helped me increase those funds by 3% so far."

Spencer blushed right on cue, as he still wasn't used to being praised even though he and Hotch had been together for quite sometime now.

"Well, our brother always did have a good head on his shoulders," Trevyn drolled grinning at his older brother.

"I come from a pretty wealthy family," Hotch added, "and all of my siblings got quite a bit."

"Actually, your brother Sean has made me the same offer and I told him I would consider it and let him know," Trevyn admitted. "We've become pretty good friends in the last few years so thank you for letting him know I was in the area."

"You're welcome," Hotch told Trevyn sincerely, although he had already heard from his brother that he and Trevyn were friends and well on the way to becoming very good ones, although it took time to build a really tight friendship.

"So are you going to accept Sean's offer?" asked Spencer of his brother.

"I don't know," Trevyn admitted, "I'm still thinking about it."

"If you're worried he's going to doublecross you in someway you don't need to be as Sean's is as honest as the day is long," Hotch promised Trevyn. "He would never do such a thing and it's a genuine offer."

"Yes, that was one worry," Trevyn admitted. "I'm sure you know by now that all three of us have trouble trusting people."

"I do and I can't really blame any of you for it," Hotch admitted. "Actually I think the three of you turned out surprisingly well considering your lack of upbringing, which included your father's abandonment and your mother's illness. All of us have our foibles after all me, Sean, you, everybody."

"Then I think I will accept Sean's offer to loan me the money for my own business, but it will be a loan only as I have every intention of paying him back," Trevyn decided.

"Or you can make him a partner in your business," Spencer suggested to his brother. "Give him a percentage of the profits."

"That's an idea," Trevyn mused thoughtfully while the other three watched.

"Just make sure you have a lawyer that does that type of thing go over it," Hotch said. "A decent lawyer that specializes in helping you come up with a decent business plan can tell you whether or not it is likely to work or not."

"I will," Trevyn promised.

"What about you, Dylan?" asked Spencer of his brother who had been mostly silent for the last few minutes.

"I think I'm going to take you up on your offer," Dylan answered, "but it will be a loan only and not a handout."

"Wonderful," Hotch said glad that at least one of Spencer's brother's had accepted his offer.

"I also think that I will move into either the Washington or Virginia area so that Spence and I will be closer so we can visit more often," Dylan added causing Spencer to look extremely happy, as he had missed his two brothers more then had had admitted to anyone, even Aaron.

"I think I'll stay in New York, for Virginia is not all that far away by train and we can still visit each other frequently," said Trevyn.

"So what kind of businesses were you thinking about going into?" asked Hotch genuinely interested.

"I'm always wanted to own my own publishing company," Trevyn said, "and I believe the best place to do that is New York, even if I know the start up cost will be more and that there are dozens of publishing companies out there."

"That's a hard business to make a name in," Hotch said.

"I know," Trevyn assured him. "I've done my research. Still, I'm the one that reads the most fiction out of all of us and not just nonfiction, but I've always loved all kinds of genre sci-fi, fantasy, westerns, even horror. I might not read as fast as Spencer here, but I'm certainly faster than average. I know I'll have to start out small and gain popularity by advertising. It's always been something of a dream of mine I just never figured I'd have the capital this soon."

"Even now, as a part-time job I'm reading books for one of the major publishing companies in New York. I even have a name for it and that's Wolf Publishing. As you can probably guess the name is kind of the twist on what we are, although nobody will know that not even other werewolves. It's my own idea of a little inside joke."

"Trevyn certainly has the drive to make it a success and he did take a course in business, along with the other courses required in order to do that," Spencer said.

"And what about you Dylan?" asked Hotch.

"Oh, nothing so grand is what Trevyn is thinking about," Dylan said with a shrug. "I'm not looking to make the fortune 500, although if that happens I certainly won't object. I was thinking something along the lines of a small electronic shop that sells things like iPads and other technological toys. I'm not looking to make a fortune, just enough for me to have the kind of life I always dreamed about. Besides, I'm not the greedy type, I just want to own my own business where I never need to worry about where my next meal is coming from and while the job I have pays enough for that, I find myself dissatisfied with it."

"Those kind of places can start out small but then you can build it up, into a chain," Hotch said Dylan nodded.

"Yes, I know and I know it will be years of work before I get that far if I do," Dylan said.

"I have faith in you," Spencer told his brother. "You've always been pretty handy with anything electronic whether it's iPad or TV or anything."

"He was pretty good at fixing our TV when we didn't have the money for a repairman," Trevyn added.

"It was an old TV and it only got a couple of channels clearly," Dylan shrugged.

"Well, you work up a decent business plan and let me go over with my attorney, and if he agrees it has a good chance of success then I'll wire the money into a separate account for you at whichever bank you prefer," Hotch said warmly.

"I'll get right on it," Dylan promised.

"Take your time, there's no need to rush," Hotch said warmly. "The offer is open ended and there's no time limit on it."

"So I hear you took care of our father," Trevyn said changing the subject.

"And that the pack now has a new Alpha," Dylan added.

"That is correct on both accounts," Hotch said calmly. "Unfortunately, Mack Burke was killed by the pack about five years before Spencer and I went to Las Vegas to deal with the situation. In fact, he was killed before Spencer and I had even met."

"Aaron didn't have any trouble dealing with William Reid," Spencer told his brothers. "I watched the whole thing and I wasn't worried about him at all. I have to admit our father put up a decent fight, but he was no match for Aaron who is a very strong Alpha male, is in great shape and knows how to fight and William Reid was none of these things. By the way, the new Alpha is Terry Pulley and he was about 16 when we were thrown out of the pack."

"I vaguely remember him, I think," Dylan said thinking about it. "He was a big broad shouldered teenager I believe, with blond hair and blue eyes."

"Well, he was elected, immediately after Burke was put to death. He wanted me to tell you that you were welcome in the Las Vegas pack at any time and all three of us were no longer outcasts and that we never should've been made ones in the first place," Spencer told his brothers.

"What did Burke do for the whole pack to turn against him?" asked Trevyn now.

Hotch and Spencer took turns telling the two brothers exactly what Burke had done for the whole pack to turn against him after making them swear to never breath a word to anyone, not even their wives if they eventually married.

"Are you telling me that son of a bitch, liked men and instead of being open about his choices he tended to rape them instead," Dylan exclaimed in outrage.

"And that the reason he hated the three of us was he wanted our father for himself because Burke had a huge crush on him, but he wouldn't give him the time of day and so Burke made him abandon us by playing on his dislike and fears, then once our father was out of the way he threw us out of the pack so we wouldn't be a problem anymore," Trevyn continued furiousness in his tone.

"And then the fucker still didn't have what he wanted and couldn't stop it when our father married again," Dylan said added looking as if he wanted to destroy something.

"Finally about six years ago now he just lost it and attacked our father as he was leaving the pack's annual Christmas party," Trevyn continued.

"And was caught in the act and immediately put to death," Dylan finished.

"More or less," Hotch said his lips twitching as Dylan and Trevyn finished each other sentences. He could follow along when they did that, since he did happen to have a few twin siblings and was used to the twin speak, unlike most people.

"Aaron and I also believe that he was the serial rapist, but since he always attacked his targets from behind he was never caught," Spencer told his brothers

"A man raping another man is so rare, that is no wonder that he was never caught at it," Hotch said. "Mostly men rape women and this is true in about 97 percent of cases."

"Besides, it's unlikely that any of his victims ever got a good look at him considering they were probably attacked from behind, so it's no wonder he was never caught. Besides, less than 50% of rape cases are ever reported if our theory is correct, so it's no wonder," said Spencer.

"Also as far as we can figure he only went after humans, not werewolves which is another reason he was never caught at least until he went after William Reid," Hotch added.

"So how many siblings do we have?" Trevyn asked a question he had been wanting to ask ever since he had learned of his father's infamous exploits.

"Quite a few," Spencer said with a grimace. "He had a dozen by his wife Lynda and the first set of twins was born before he had left our mother and she had quadruplets six years later, when we would've been about 13. His next set of twins wasn't born until mother had passed away and in fact we would've been about 23 or so at the time and finally she had quads again while she still would've been nursing."

"As I explained to Spencer werewolf pups aren't normally more than three years apart, but two years is more average, but both of us figure that Lynda had her first set of twins in order to stop your father from leaving and that her first set of quads were an accident where she forgot to take the medication that prevents pregnancy, because no woman as sensible as Lynda Boyle is would not have six children unless she had a commitment from the man involved. She didn't get pregnant again for awhile," Hotch explained.

"Yes, that does make sense," Dylan said after a moment. "A dozen pups seems like a lot to me though."

"It's not really in a werewolf family so long as the family in question can afford that many pups, of course," Hotch told the two brothers understanding why Dylan would think a dozen pups was a lot since he had always just had his two brothers. "I for one have many more then a dozen siblings and you'd be amazed if you knew the actual number trust me."

"So are the ones that showed up for your commitment ceremony..." Trevyn questioned then paused.

"Were just the ones that could make it on short notice," Hotch said, "and it wasn't even half of them."

"Well, if I ever do get married I doubt very much I'll have more then maybe five or six children tops. I would like children someday, but a dozen to me seems way too many."

"A lot of werewolf families agree with you," Hotch said, "just because a lot of werewolf families have a dozen pups or more does not mean there aren't families out there that only have three or four. Having a lot of pups depends on a number of factors, income for instance, desire to have that many, space in the house you're living in or having the money to move to a bigger place or building on if you have more than your home can hold comfortably. As I said there are a number of factors involved. I truly hope that you do have pups someday both of you, because I have found that I love my half siblings that I am raising because my mother died during her c-section."

"I love them just as much as Aaron does and in fact, I found that I love children a lot more than I thought I could considering our upbringing and Aaron and I were talking about going through the IVF process to have our own at some point."

"You are?" asked Dylan in astonishment staring at his older brother.

"We were," Spencer confirmed.

"We even have a surrogate," Hotch said and then went on to explain all about how Anastasia and Thierry got together and how the couple felt they owed him for introducing them.

"Wow! That's really nice of your friends," Trevyn said looking stunned at the information he had just been given as did Dylan.

"I think so and both Aaron and I have already thanked them for being willing to do something like that for us. However, we're holding off a little until we been together for longer as we don't want the team questioning why we decided to go to the IVF process so soon. Besides, as a potential problem in the offering."

"What do you mean?" asked Dylan.

At his brother's question Spencer went ahead to explain all about the quadruplets that their father had gotten this women pregnant with and how it was possible the mother wouldn't accept the fact that her children would change on the full moon, which was coming up in a few months.

"If that occurs, then I will be the only one in the system, since I work for the government and you have to be fingerprinted or at least I would be the easiest to locate. Luckily, our old pack has somebody who works in childcare services, who's a senior agent and she's already aware of what might happen, so she'll speed the process along."

"So you're saying that these quadruplets are our half siblings and their mother might not accept the fact that they're also werewolves and the first time they will change is coming up."

"That's it exactly," Hotch agreed calmly.

"So what do you do if the mother doesn't accept that her children are different?" asked Dylan curiously.

"You're not going to like it," Spencer told his brothers. "I know I certainly don't, even if I know it's necessary."

"You kill the mother don't you?" asked Trevyn in sudden understanding

"If it becomes necessary, yes, we do," Hotch admitted. "As we cannot let the general human populace find out that werewolves are real bar those ones that actually marry into the pack. I'm afraid it is necessary evil."

"There's no other way?" asked Dylan looking upset.

"I'm afraid not," Hotch told Dylan and Trevyn sympathetically knowing that if they had grown up with a pack like they were supposed to they would see the necessity of it anyway, even if they still didn't like it. "Most of the human populace would be scared out of their minds that our species was real thanks to books and movies. We would be hunted down and that would be numerous deaths, before all was said and done and not just werewolves either. Even if she wasn't believed, well, that doesn't mean the next person it happened to wouldn't be and it would start a witch hunt. It might be distasteful, especially to someone like me who believes very strongly in justice, however, I grew up in a pack so I understand that sometimes such actions are necessary to protect our species from discovery."

"The wolf in me knows that it's a necessary evil, but the human part of me really wants to object, but also knows it's necessary, even if that part of me doesn't like it," Spencer said. "I know that if we had grown up in a pack like we should have we would understand the necessity of it, both parts of us and not just the wolf who instinctively understands. Early childhood training, has a lot to do with what a person grows up to be and the reason Aaron is so comfortable with both the human and the wolf part of him is because he was trained from earliest childhood to realize that sometimes actions like that are necessary."

"Being an Alpha male helps as well as we are naturally predators anyway, but Omegas like Spencer, well they have gentler and far more forgiving personalities for the most part," said Hotch. "Still, if the three of you had grown up with your pack like you should have both parts of you would understand better why these actions are necessary."

"Yeah, you're right," Trevyn admitted.

"I'm sure a lot of things would be different if not for Mack Burke," Dylan added.

"Yes, they would be, as for one thing you never would have suffered a deprivation of meat like you did," Hotch growled.

"Meat is important to our kind, beef in particular in order for a werewolf's body to grow strong," Spencer explained to his brothers who looked confused. "Unlike humans we need more meat a day, especially while we are young and still growing. A werewolf craves meat, even as an adult, and while it's still important to us, we don't need meat everyday like we do when we're still pups, even if we crave it."

"I remember craving meat so bad sometimes back when we were growing up as the scent of a freshly grilled steak about drove me insane," Dylan commented, as he thought back to all those time in his childhood. "Meat we couldn't afford to waste our money on."

"I remember being driven practically crazy with the smell of grilled meat and it didn't matter what kind of meat either as they all smelled so mouthwatering," Trevyn commented looking nostalgic, but also sad. "We learned to control these urges, but it wasn't easy."

"See that's exactly what I mean," Hotch growled looking furious all over again. "Meat, beef in particular, is essential to us and yet you were denied this basic necessity all because of two men. It's just as well that Burke and William Reid are dead or I'd be tempted to go up to Las Vegas and kill them both again, for what they did to you, which should never have happened and definitely wouldn't have if the pack had been properly managed."

"Well, unfortunately, we can't change the past since time travel is nothing more than science fiction," Trevyn said his tone joking.

"Believe me, if I could go back in time I'd make sure you grew up decently and take care of the problem of Burke before he made you three outcasts," Hotch said a little more calmly, although his eyes still glimmered with menace.

"There's no point of dwelling on it since is not possible," Spencer said placing a gentle hand on his mate's arm. "Besides, if things had not happened exactly like they did the two of us likely would not have met and for that alone and I will always be grateful."

"Yes, that's true enough," Hotch admitted. "If things had happened in just a slightly different way…"

"Which is why I said there's no point of dwelling on it, things happen as they were meant to and I am far happier than I ever imagined I could be," Spencer said.

Dylan and Trevyn watched as Spencer and Aaron shared a loving kiss seeming to get lost in each other for a moment making both young men think that they would love to have that kind of relationship with someone someday, because the connection was visibly flowing between the two. Aaron and Spencer were way closer than 99% of other relationships and that made both Dylan and Trevyn rather wistful to have the same thing that there brother did. Both brothers were sure that all mated couples were as close as Aaron and Spencer were and it made them long for the same thing

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	21. Chapter 21

Part 21

"It was a wonderful ceremony," Spencer told Aaron just a little dreamily, "and the fact that Morgan actually apologized for his previous overprotective behavior and this time I truly think he understands how much he's been hurting me was just an added bonus. Now maybe, we can get our relationship back on track."

"Yes, I truly think Morgan now understands that he was hurting you deeply with his attitude," Hotch agreed, since he had been there as well. There was no way in hell that he was going to leave his mate alone with Morgan to possibly be hurt emotionally again, not until he was positive that Morgan had truly accepted the two of them were in a permanent relationship. Until then, he would be at his mate's side, whenever the two interacted and he would never assign the two together at least until further notice. "I've never seen him at a loss for words before and I've never seen him sincerely apologize to anyone, except Garcia. By the way, I thought it was a wonderful ceremony to and I truly regret that we couldn't hold a wedding."

"A commitment ceremony was enough," Spencer told his mate firmly. "Would I love to be legally married to you? Of course, I would. However, even though I would love it and I know you would too it's not strictly necessary. If Strauss ever leaves the BAU and we get somebody who's more understanding then we can hold a wedding, but until and if that occurs then I have no regrets. I wanted our friends and family to see our commitment to each other and they did and that's all that matters to me. However, I still can't believe that we didn't get called on a case at the last minute. Really, I was expecting to be called in at any moment and yet we got through the day with no interruptions and considering the work we do I was amazed that we managed to pull it off."

"Yes, I have to admit that luck was on our side in this," Hotch said with a smirk truly touched by his mate's words.

"Normally, I don't believe in such a thing as luck, but I have to admit in this case we were lucky," Spencer said. "Also, I've never seen Bella so excited or happy."

"I don't blame her for being excited or happy," Hotch said. "The odds were extremely long that she would meet her Lifemate while she was visiting you and yet that's exactly what happened so you can't blame her for her excitement."

"Yeah, the odds are astronomical," Spencer agreed. "I'm ecstatic she did and hopefully, she's planning on moving into the area and Pasha isn't planning on moving to Las Vegas instead. It would be nice if we got to see each other as frequently as our schedules allowed and certainly more often then if she lived all the way up in Vegas."

"At least I have no reason to be jealous of the two of you spending time together, because once you find your Lifemate all your attention becomes focused on them and they become the center of your universe," Hotch teased Reid who laughed.

"You weren't jealous of Bella and me spending time together even before she and Pasha found each other," Spencer told him his tone also teasing. "You knew perfectly well who all my intimate affections were focused towards and that Bella and I were just good friends. I didn't sense jealousy from you, not once, and that's because you knew I belonged to you heart, body and soul and that Bella and I would never have been anything other than very good friends, even if she and Pasha had never met."

"Yes, I did," Hotch admitted truthfully, as he held his mate a little closer. "I'm actually very happy that you have a friend outside of your brothers, me and team and someone who's actually another werewolf to boot."

"You know what amazes me is that Pasha has only been in this area for a year or so and that he is only a couple of years younger than Bella is. I kind of envy them that their ages are so much closer then ours is," Spencer said his tone a little wistful.

"You would never have been able to put up with someone your own age as people so young tend to be very immature. As you've said on more than one occasion, the people around your own age when you went to college with were very shallow and didn't have any depth to their personalities or a depth of knowledge to keep you interested as that usually comes with age as well. I'm not saying that's always the case, just mostly. You and I were always very serious as pups, so if we had been born around the same time, I'm sure we would've been interested in each other even back when we were 18 or 19, even without being Lifemates," Aaron said.

"Not to mention we have our childhoods to consider as we both had a tough time growing up, even if it was in different ways," Spencer said. "Which tends to make a person mature much faster and is one reason why we are such a good match as Lifemates. All those kids in college or at least most of them likely had idyllic and happy childhoods and so they hadn't shed their immaturity as yet and definitely not as fast as we had to, as that takes experience in real life."

"Which we both had in abundance and got much sooner then other children," Hotch agreed. "Those experiences made us both much more mature then most young people. You and your brothers were probably more mature at 13 then those college kids were 18 and 19 or even 20."

"We had to be, or we never would have survived past our 8th birthdays," Spencer snorted, "which is thanks to that idiot Burke and also the man that I share half my genes with. I refuse to call that man my father, as fathers are supposed to care about their children, give them advice when they need it or just a hug or pat on the back for a job well done."

Hotch didn't bother to correct his mate for his language because for one thing Spencer hadn't cussed and besides, he agreed about the idiot comment when it came to Mack Burke and also Spencer was a grown man and could cuss all he liked, even if he didn't do it very often.

"Yes, I have to agree that that man was not your father, no matter the biological relationship," Hotch said. "However, your father is dead and I don't feel the least guilty for ending his life, as it was more then deserved, so we need to just forget he ever existed, even if I know that's not really possible in your case."

"I need to stop dwelling on it, in other words," Spencer said and Hotch nodded.

"Especially today of all days because this is supposed to be a happy occasion even if we have to go back to work tomorrow," Hotch said.

"Well, I have the perfect way to make me forget about it at least temporarily," Spencer suggested with a smirk

Hotch was already well aware of what was on Spencer's mind that could be used to distract him and in fact wholeheartedly agreed with it, so headed immediately for the stairs, Spencer following behind admiring his mate's very shapely ass and long muscled legs as he went.

Hotch knew he would never get enough of fucking his mate senseless no matter how many times he did it and he knew Spencer enjoyed it as well, which was why he often suggested sex in order to forget the stress or worries and used it as a way to just relax and let those things wash away even if it was only a temporary solution and he wasn't about to object.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

"Well, Little Aaron is eager, isn't he?" Spencer asked with a smirk using his hand to grasp Hotch's penis and give it a long firm stroke as soon as it two men reached their bedroom and had unclothed each other.

"He always is when it comes to you," Hotch said silkily taking the now naked form of his mate into his arms, nibbling on the side of his neck right where the pulse point was, causing a long soft groan to escape Spencer's lips, one that was needy with desire and lust. Spencer tilted his head to give his mate better access to the side of his neck. "Your scent, your very presence drives that part of me wild with desire and I have a hard time resisting taking you even when we are working. I want you absolutely all the time. I used to have no trouble controlling myself, but as soon as I met you it became rather difficult."

"But worth it," Spencer said, "because it always makes our lovemaking more intense and earthshattering then it would otherwise be, when we have time to give into our mutual desire for each other."

"That's very true," Hotch said with a smirk, as he remembered some of those long-lasting lovemaking sessions. If truth be known they had fucked like rabbits, all throughout the night more than once, even if they went to work tired the next day. The fact that their lovemaking was enhanced by the emotions they were feeling from each other, was just an added bonus and made the sex at least ten times better.

"I'm sure you know that it's the same for me too, as you're scent drives me absolutely bonkers," Spencer said, "although the need to have you isn't quite as intense as it was when we first met."

"That's because the bond has matured," Hotch explained and Spencer nodded having come to the same conclusion.

"I figured as much," Spencer admitted.

"Now that we've said that," Hotch said picking Spencer up easily and gently placing him on the bed and was immediately on top of the younger man. He didn't waste a single instant in giving his mate pleasure and had his, Spencer withering beneath him in seconds, even before he used Little Aaron as his lover called him, sometime later to enter his mate's body and bring him to yet another climax, which was at least the third or was it fourth, since Spencer had lost count, after the first two or was it three climaxes without penetration. Now normally, Spencer never forgot anything and while he remembered the spectacular lovemaking that didn't mean that he wasn't so lost in the midst of pleasure that he could remember how many climaxes he'd had and some of them were so close together that it wasn't really all that surprising. Aaron Hotchner really knew his body inside and out and knew how to bring him the utmost pleasure and to multiple climaxes. His mate was definitely one of the most vital men he had ever met and was always eager to take him to bed and Spencer usually didn't object when that happened, though if it was anyone else he would be putting up a fight about spending so much time in bed instead of reading or some other activity. With Aaron though, it almost never entered his mind, as he enjoyed their bedroom activities way to much to even think about raising an objection.

Spencer never thought he would enjoy the variety of his sex life or that he would enjoy having sex in general, as often as he and Aaron went at it and yet he would have it no other way, even if that meant he spent quite a bit of time in bed letting his mate have his way with his body for hours at a time. Time that had used to be spent reading or studying and letting life pass him by. Spencer had always imagined himself as a virgin up until the day he died, which was definitely no longer true and he couldn't be happier about that.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

"You know those for children should have changed into werewolves just a week or so ago," Spencer mentioned and Hotch nodded, as it had been in the back of his mind ever since he knew the full moon was approaching and Spencer's half siblings would change for the first time as it would be the first full moon after they turned two years old.

"I know," Hotch said. "It's been in the back of my mind since about two or three days before the actual full moon, as we both knew that it was coming up. If we don't get a call sometime in the next week or two, then their mother likely accepted the fact that they're just a little different. Of course, several of the pack will be standing by to explain the situation to her if she did happen to accept her children as they are."

"Yeah, you said that Terry will offer her a place in the pack, so the children can run on the full moon at any time they like when they get a little older and it will also give them a sense of community, which young werewolves need to not feel lonely, since they don't deal with loneliness well, with a few exceptions like my brothers and I," Spencer said remembering well that conversation.

"Yeah, Terry is doing exactly what should be done and that's offering the human who has werewolf pups a place in the pack and only if they don't accept are they then killed. A lot of packs just kill a human if there's no werewolf father or mother in sight or if the werewolf parent is not known," Hotch said his tone disapproving.

Before Spencer could answer his cellphone rang and he checked the caller ID not recognizing the number, but answered it anyway.

"Hello? This is Dr. Spencer Reid, may I ask who is calling?"

Spencer appeared to listen for a moment and then threw his mate, who had been listening to the one sided conversation a significant look and Hotch took that to mean that this was about the pups, his mate's half siblings that by coincidence the two of them had just been discussing.

"Yes, ma'am," Spencer answered whatever question he had been asked.

Hotch now knew it was a woman his mate was talking to, probably the older lady that was a werewolf that worked in social services, that Terry had mentioned.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll drive up there as soon as I can, since flying just wouldn't be practical with four two year olds. It'll be a few days."

"We'll be driving," Hotch corrected. "It'll take both of us to handle four two year olds and I'll also have to drag four of the old car seats out of the attic."

"Yes, ma'am," Spencer answered even though he indicated he had heard his mate. "It'll be at least 35 or 36 hours depending on the weather and traffic, even with two of us driving."

Spencer listened to another minute.

"Yes, I realize, that they've been though a traumatic experience when their mother tried to kill them and I'll make sure to take them to a child psychologist."

Spencer was silent for a minute as he listened to what was being said on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, we'll meet you at child services, at 1 o'clock on Friday.

1 o'clock Friday was in just a little bit over 48 hours for it was exactly 12:20 on Wednesday.

"Yes, ma'am, I know me and my two brothers are their closest living relatives," Spencer answered.

"Yes, ma'am, my mate and I are prepared to take them and give them a good home. Aaron and I will see you Friday," Spencer answered, the lady's next question.

Finally Spencer hung up and then collapsed onto the couch. "Whoah! I never expected to get a call actually, as I thought that their mother would accept them. I was actually expecting Terry to call and tell us that my four half siblings were accepted by their mother and were now part of the Las Vegas pack," Spencer said angrily.

"You knew this was a possibility," Hotch told his mate gently, because he more than understood where Spencer was coming from. Spencer knew very well about the evil in the world, but for a mother to try to kill her own pups was not something that he had actually encountered before, even if he knew intellectually that it happened all the time. That those pups were actually his half siblings just made him extremely angry and Hotch could hardly blame his mate for that reaction, since those four pups were his blood after all, although Spencer would be just as angry even if the pups weren't related to him, as that was just the kind of man he was.

"Yes, I knew," Spencer said his tone calmer, giving Aaron a contrite look and Hotch just smiled at him and kissed his cheek to let Spencer know he was forgiven for his snapping tone, especially since he knew, Spencer was just snapping at him, because he was present and not because it was actually directed at him. Besides, anybody would be upset at this situation, so Spencer was not alone in that as he to was angry at what had happened to his mate's siblings.  
"I'm upset too," Hotch promised his mate, "but we did know that this was a possibility."

"As I said I knew, but I was still hoping that their mother would accept the fact that they're not just her children, but also werewolves that need to change on the full moon, unless of course, they are in a totally dark room where the moonlight cannot penetrate."

"Some people just can't accept the fact that such things as werewolves exist," Hotch said and Spencer nodded.

"I know," Spencer sighed. "I know how hard it is for most people to accept that werewolves even exist, since really we're nothing more than myths or legends to most of the human population and even though I can understand it, it still makes me sad when something like this to occurs."

"So did, the lady at social services tell you exactly what happened?" asked Hotch.

"No," Spencer said shaking his head, "she promised a full explanation once we arrived."

"I need to start making arrangements then and so do you," Hotch said and Spencer nodded.

"Strauss isn't going to be happy but that's not our problem I know, especially since both of us have plenty of vacation time saved up. Even Strauss isn't vindictive enough to deny me leave at least when I tell her its a family emergency. I know she'll likely want details, but it's really none of her concern, what kind of an emergency it is just that I need the time off in order to deal with it," Spencer said.

"I would take a week, because it'll take us at least a day and a half just to get up to Las Vegas if we drive, even if both of us take the wheel. Then we'll need a few days to deal with any paperwork and a day or two to get them settled in and used to us," Hotch advised

"Yes, that's true," Spencer agreed. "We can always call in if we need more than that, although how are you going to explain about the need for vacation time, since Strauss has no idea at least as far as I know that the two of us are involved."

"If she knew, trust me, we would have heard about it from her own lips and so would anybody else within range." Hotch snorted. "If that occurred we would have gotten a lot of derision from certain people who don't know how to keep their opinions to themselves. Not from other werewolves of course, for the most part, but quite a lot of humans really don't approve of same-sex relationships."

"Yes, so far we've managed to keep it quiet and I'm actually surprised of that," Spencer said. "I figured that Murphy's Law would've been in fine form, especially when things are going a little too well. I know we're really careful at work to not reveal our relationship, but still..."

"Oh, you mean what can go wrong, will go wrong," Hotch said and Spencer nodded.

"I figured somebody would see us when we had dinner sometime at a restaurant, somebody that worked at the FBI and knew us at least by sight. Since people love to gossip, I figured that our relationship would be all over the FBI by now. I know it hasn't happened and I find myself astonished that it has not," Spencer explained.

"Well, we won't be able to keep it quiet forever, or at least it's not likely," Hotch. "It's been close to three years and I'm actually surprised that, no one has cottoned on, except the team of course, to the fact that we are a couple."

"Well, we kind of let the team know even if it took them a few months to figure it out," Spencer chuckled, as he remembered how he and Aaron had started to subtly reveal their relationship to the people they worked with.

"And even Morgan has finally accepted our relationship completely now," Hotch added.

"Which is a relief," Spencer said. "Well, I guess I need to go and make some calls and then pack. You know I would suggest taking the train except that that would take longer than just driving the distance, but only if we didn't drive straight through and stopped for the night."

"You know the train might be the better option," Hotch said. "We wouldn't have to worry about having carseats, except of course, in our SUV when we got back home. We wouldn't have to tire ourselves out by having one of us sleep while the other drove, even if it does take a few hours longer. We could even get a private compartment."

"If there were only two children, that would be possible," Spencer said, "but there is no compartment big enough on an Amtrak train for four children and two adults, not to sleep anyway, so driving really is the easiest way."

Hotch knew that his mate was more knowledgeable about this kind of thing then he was as he likely had all the relevant information memorized, so he finally agreed.

The two of them got up from where they were sitting and begin to make arrangements to take at least next week off work, with the possibility of having to extend that leave.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

"So you are saying that you have four half siblings and that their mother was murdered?" asked Rossi.

"And that your name just happened to come up when childcare services was looking for a relative to take them in," Morgan added

"That's correct," Spencer answered, calmly. "However, the one piece of information you're missing is that I'm the only one that would be in any database as my two siblings don't have jobs with the government or anywhere else that requires you to be fingerprinted. Now, while childcare services would eventually track down birth certificates and locate Dylan and Trev, it would take much longer, since they no longer live in the Las Vegas area. Now while my father's second wife, Lynda does live in Las Vegas, she has her own children to look after and doesn't need four more. I'm sure however, that Lynda would be willing to take them, if there was no other option, but since there is..." Spencer shrugged.

"But one of your brothers could take them," JJ said.

"Neither one of them is really in a situation where they can take care of children at the moment," Spencer answered. "They're both very busy setting up their own businesses and don't have time or the money for children right now, especially not four, so I'm simply the best option. The nannies that Aaron has hired, to look after his own children can do the same for my 4 half siblings or I can hire someone. I'm sure that Dylan won't mind helping look after them sometime, since he did move to be closer to me and Trev, even if he's still in New York, once he decided to start his own business. Besides, it will give them experience if they ever decides to get married and have some children of their own."

"Well, you seem to have it all worked out," Emily said smiling

"Of course, he does, this is Reid we are talking about," Morgan commented. "He would've had all the problems involved in taking in four more children worked out in just a few minutes."

"It's not like I couldn't take them in, as I don't want my own half siblings in foster care with someone who might not have their best interest in mind and they would definitely be separated, as most foster care parents aren't willing to take in more than one or two children at one time, but not four."

Spencer didn't mention any other reason why it was necessary for him and Aaron to take his 4 half siblings in and that was because they were werewolves and all foster parents were human as no werewolf would dare become one because of the chance of revealing the secret of what they were.

"What do you think about this, Aaron?" Rossi asked his old friend curiously.

"I agree with everything Spencer just said," Hotch answered. "Yes, it will be a challenge to take care of four more children considering that we already have eight. However, as Spencer said they're family and therefore, they will not be turned away. If either of Spencer's brothers was in a position to look after them even part time, then that's the way it would be. I'm not saying that Dylan and Trevyn won't be a big part of their half siblings lives, Dylan in particular since he now lives close by, but the main responsibility for raising them is going to fall on me and Spencer and it's a duty I will take on gladly, just as I know Spencer will."

"It's true we are gone a lot for work, but Aaron's half siblings that he adopted are well-adjusted and their father spends as much time with them as he is able just as do and I can't see my 4 half siblings being any different other then they still need awhile to adjust to their changed circumstances. However, at their age, most children won't remember anything as they get older and to the four of them we will have always been their parents."

"Yes, most children don't have solid memories until they're around three or four," JJ confirmed. "They might have a few that seem like dreams or their imagination, as there'll be very vague, but nothing solid."

"Exactly," Spencer immediately agreed.

"So how are they settling in?" asked Emily.

It was just over a week later, where Spencer and Hotch had taken turns driving up to Las Vegas had sorted out everything that needed to be said that they could take Spencer's four half siblings home with them. There had been paperwork to sign and Spencer had had to also prove that he was indeed related to the four children. Once the paperwork and all the other formalities were out of the way they had a meeting with Terry, the Alpha of the Las Vegas pack and Spencer had even had time to spend a few hours with Lynda and his other half siblings. Hotch had even dragged four carseats out of the attic and made sure to clean them as thoroughly as he could, before he and Spencer installed them into his van.

Strauss, of course, tried to cause problems and although she couldn't stop Reid from taking leave since it was a family emergency, she had tried to stop Hotch from doing the same, by claiming that it was unnecessary and that he'd already had a vacation recently. However, unfortunately, for Erin Strauss, Hotch had plenty of vacation time saved up, and since he hardly ever took more than a day or two off at a time even Strauss couldn't really stop him from taking some of it. Strauss still didn't know about Reid's and Hotch's relationship and so failed to understand why Aaron Hotchner was also taking a week off at the same time, especially as he had already done so once just last year. Hotch's explanation though was simple, and that was there was no way that Spencer could handle four children on his own and that he was going to need help, so he had volunteered. As a parting shot for Strauss he had said that any of the team would have done the same when they realized that their teammate would need at least one person's assistance and said that he had just thought of the idea first. Hotch had left Strauss with one more parting shot and that was: What you fail to understand Chief Strauss is the fact that the team is as close as a family and therefore, we all assist each other when needed.

Hotch didn't say so, but Strauss understood the silent message nonetheless and that was: You don't understand it, because you are a bitch who takes great pleasure in other's pain, whether emotional or physical and go out of your way to try to break up the team, something that will never happen if I have any say in the matter.

Even though the words never left Hotch's mouth the look he shot her made that message loud and clear to someone like Strauss who wasn't stupid by any stretch of the imagination and so caught on to Hotch meaning easily.

"They've had a few nightmares over what happened and I can hardly blame them for that, as anybody would, especially at their age," Hotch said.

"Those nightmares will fade over time, and probably in a few weeks they won't have them anymore," Spencer added.

"I'm not surprised they are having nightmares if they saw their mother murdered right in front of them," JJ commented feeling immense sympathy for Spencer's two-year-old half siblings. "That kind of thing will affect you for the rest of your life, even if they are still very young and likely won't remember what actually happened."

"Yes, the subconscious will still remember even if the conscious mind does not," Spencer agreed. "I will be surprised if the four of them don't have nightmares on and off for the rest of their lives, as that would be their subconsciouses way of getting the four of them to deal with the fact that they saw their mother murdered."

"If that happens, Spencer and I will deal with it," Hotch said. "We'll take them to a child psychologist if necessary."

Neither Spencer or Hotch mentioned that the only reason the four children's mother had been murdered was because she had tried to kill them, simply because they were different and they would have to deal with that as well if it became necessary. When Hotch and Spencer had arrived in Vegas they'd had a meeting with Terry and Captain Rodgers who had performed the deed. The captain had told them exactly what had happened and that he didn't feel sorry at all for having to murder the quads mother and why that was.

He had told Hotch and Spencer quite frankly that the mother had called her children a bunch of foul names like devil's spawn and devil's child and had been heading in their direction determined to end their lives with a very sharp butcher knife in her hand.

The children, one daughter and three sons had tried to run as fast as their tiny little legs or in this case paws, since they had still been transformed at the time, could carry them. However, since the mother was an adult she had much longer legs she had caught up with them quickly and had caught one of them. The only girl of the four had tried to bite his mother to let him go, but that had just spurred the woman on and she had been about to plunge the butcher knife into her own child's heart, which was when Captain Rodgers and the other three men that were with him had acted. The four of them had been taking turns watching the family for the last few months and the five of them had seemed like the picture perfect happy family, although the captain had sensed something within the mother that wasn't quite right and his instincts had warned him she was not as she seemed. Captain Rodgers was of the opinion that if the children were not werewolves then they likely would've had a very happy childhood unless of course, something else had set the mother off. Both Hotch and Spencer definitely agreed with Captain Rodgers opinion, but were glad that he had been there to do the deed and saved Spencer's niece's life.

Captain Rodgers had genuinely believed, that the mother had seen her children as possessed and had thought the only way to solve the situation was to kill them in order to release the evil spirits.

"Were you aware that you had half siblings, well, besides, the one with your father's second wife?" asked Emily curiously.

"I was," Spencer admitted. "Considering I was aware that my father was seeing Lynda and that he started to shortly after he left his first family, but was technically, still married. I was not unaware of the possibility that he might have cheated on his second wife to, although you would think he wouldn't have been so careless and used protection so that no children were born at least. However, I do realize that such things happen all the time. In any case, I had Garcia do a search for me and so I knew about the quads, but I never believed that their mother would be murdered. Would I have liked to get to know my half siblings? Of course, I would, but I would never have tried to interfere in their lives so long as they were happy."

"So anymore little Reids out there that we don't know about?" Morgan teased him.

"Oh, several, as I believe we've already established that my father wasn't exactly the most responsible person out there at least when it came to his personal life," Reid said with a shrug. "However, from what Garcia could find that out they seem happy with their families and so I have no intention of interfering."

Morgan looked surprised to that, but Rossi had sensed where this was going just from the way that both Hotch and Reid were acting. Besides, Rossi well knew that if a man cheated once and had children by another woman, even when he was married to another, then it was possible for him to do so again and unfortunately, it often happened. He had to admit thought that it was usually a single child born and not multiples like in the case of Reid's half siblings, but still the concept applied.

"Oh, come on, Morgan, use your head," Rossi told the big black man. "If a man cheats once when he's already married that shows he has no loyalty to his wife or his children and therefore, there is nothing to stop him from doing it again. Who knows how many women that William Reid was with over the years that he was married first to Spencer's mother and then his second wife Lynda, which she married very soon after Spencer's mother committed suicide, but that he'd been involved with for years even before that."

The whole team knew the basic facts of his father's life now as Spencer had seen no reason to keep it from them since they were his family, one that wasn't related by blood, but still his family, just as Aaron was. The only thing he had left out of his summary to the team was the whole werewolf/pack/Lifemate thing, which was necessary.

"You're right," Morgan admitted. "It's just that I have trouble imagining that scenario when it comes to Spencer's father considering that his son is absolutely nothing like what I heard William Reid was like."

"Children turn out differently from their parents all the time, Morgan," Hotch reminded his teammate and Morgan nodded knowing this was true. "Consider the fact that Spencer's father abandoned his three sons when they were seven and imagine how those three children could've turned out very differently if he had decided to stick around."

Spencer snorted at that, but said nothing.

"Spence has the brains to build his own business from scratch for example and turn it into a company that makes billions," JJ said, "and he could have very easily decided to do that, instead of joining the FBI. We'll never know if William Reid had stuck around longer if that would have occurred or if he would have chosen the same career."

"I'm grateful he did decide to join the FBI," Hotch said with a smile at his mate who couldn't help smile back adoringly at Hotch, "or it's likely we never would have met."

"Which would have been terrible for the two of you," Emily said, as she observed her boss and her teammate. "I know I'm almost the newest member of the team except for Rossi here, but I can see how close the two of you are and how much you care for each other and yes, I'm aware that Rossi isn't really new to the career of profiling since he is the one that helped form the BAU in the first place."

"We all get the point you're trying to make, Emily," Morgan told his teammate with a smile.

"It's true I had a choice as to whether or not to take them in I could've just let them be adopted by several different families or at least fostered, but as they are my blood I feel I have a responsibility to them and I know Dylan and Trev and my mother, if she was alive, would agree," Spencer said.

"Well, you're certainly being more responsible than your father," Morgan commented with a smirk.

"What you don't know is that my father lost a twin brother years ago and from what I could find out from several people that knew him that changed him. I'm not saying that excuses the man he turned into, but I have to think that if he hadn't lost his twin brother, my Uncle Robert, when they were just teenagers, then perhaps, he would've been very different. I'm not excusing my father's actions, just thinking that if my Uncle Robert had lived my father might have been a different person."

"Losing your twin like that is a lot different from just losing a sibling," JJ said. "I know this because I had some friends back when I was a child, then a teenager by the name of Rochelle and Rebecca Owens, but then Rochelle was killed by a drunk driver Rebecca was devastated and was never quite the same afterwards."

"Were they fraternal or identical?" Spencer asked.

"Identical, at least physically, why?" asked JJ curiously.

"Well, my father and my Uncle Robert were also identical, so this means losing an identical twin might affect you differently than losing a fraternal one, although I can't prove that. I'm not saying that losing a fraternal twin wouldn't be devastating as well, just not in the same way as losing someone that came from the same egg as you did. It would be like losing an ordinary sibling that's a couple years older or younger than you are."

"So you believe that because fraternal twins come from two different eggs that the death of one of them wouldn't be quite as devastating," Emily said.

"Well, identical twins often have a weird connection to each other, as if their brains are on the same wavelength and it's been theorized the reason for this is because they came from the same egg that just split into two or more, with identical DNA. Fraternal twins however, come from two different eggs that were released within days of each other or sometimes just hours and therefore, those types of twins don't have a kind of mental connection to each other."

"It's quite possible, that William Reid's brain snapped and he had a psychotic break like we encounter all the time when we profile our unsubs and while he didn't turn into a criminal, he became uncaring about others feelings other than his own, which is what made it possible for him to leave his sick wife and three sons. He was capable of a kind of shallow love and affection just like a lot of people are, but not of being loyal to those same children. I truly believe that he just wasn't capable of anything like a deep and abiding love that would see him stay by his wife and children no matter what bumps in the road that life brought."

"So you're saying you don't believe he was really capable of truly falling in love," Emily said. "That he could fake it, and have very shallow feelings for someone, but not ones that would see him get truly attached to his children or his wife which is why he could leave, because he had no feelings of love or affection for any of them."

"Right," Hotch agreed, "or at least not enough to see him stick around, when things got hard."

"We'll never know, as my father just left Lynda one day and shortly after that his body was discovered and it looked like he had an accident and he ended up with a broken neck, various scratches and contusions," Spencer added.

"You don't sound upset at that," JJ said looking at her friend in surprise.

"Would you be upset, that your father was dead, if he had done the same thing to you, that mine did to me and my brothers?" Spencer asked his friend calmly, but with a certain look in his golden brown eyes that startled the other's who saw it. "I mean he just left with no explanation and even before he did, he didn't show me or my brothers any affection. He seemed to believe that he had done his job by getting my mother pregnant in the first place and that he didn't have to do anything else like help look after us. I wasn't surprised to learn that he'd had several lovers, even before he left us when the three of us were seven, as we all know that my father wasn't loyal to his family for more than a year or two and just because he didn't get any of those women pregnant doesn't mean he didn't have relationships."

"Still, he was your father," JJ said surprised at the coldness in the Spencer's voice and in his eyes.

"JJ, I know you have trouble understanding this, as your family life was what it should have been," Spencer gently tried to explain to his friend. "You grew up loved by both your parents, I'm sure they praised your accomplishments, congratulated you when you got good grades, helped you if you were being bullied, like going to the school to try to sort it out."

JJ nodded and so Spencer continued. "My mother did these things before she got so sick, but once she did my dad didn't do a thing that any good parent would, except telling us that we would have to learn to deal with the bullying on our own, even though we were still very young children. He never once congratulated us on the fact that we were able to skip grades, or that we always came home with hundred percent scores, he never did a thing when we told him about the severe bullying that we were having to put up with, being knocked into lockers and the like. He totally ignored us most of the time unless he wanted to berate us about something, even if we'd had nothing to do with what he was yelling at us about.

"He never once tucked us in, or read us bedtime stories, he never once congratulated us on anything or even patted us on the shoulder for a job well done or gave us a hug when we needed one. In a way, he was a psychopath just like those we catch, even though as far as I know he never committed a crime, but he was certainly uncaring. To him we weren't turning out like he wanted, which was into miniature copies of what he was. He often said to our faces that we were to smart for our own good.

"He considered us all failures to the Reid name, even though we were only seven, and you can't really tell how a child is going to turn out at such a young age, although personally, I think that was just an excuse, so he didn't feel guilty for leaving us like he did. He wanted all three of us to become lawyers just like he was, but as you can see that wasn't one of our dreams, but if he had stuck around who knows if that would've happened or not? I for one believe I never would've been happy as a lawyer, but on the other hand, who knows how much influence my father would've had if he had decided to stick with us instead of abandoning us. If I had your normal happy childhood JJ my feelings would be different, but to tell you the truth I'm not unhappy he's dead, but then I really don't care one way or the other so long as he's not here to plague my brothers and me. He's not here to tell us how he's disappointed in us or that we shouldn't have been so intelligent, or that we should've been lawyers just like him."

"Why would your father be disappointed that you were so intelligent?" asked Emily genuinely curious.

"Because he wanted us to be the same as him," Spencer tried to explain. "He wanted us to be intelligent certainly, just not at the genius level like all three of us are. He wanted us to be little carbon copies of what he was, which meant intelligent, but also personable and athletic, which I'm definitely not, as you all know. He didn't want children with their own individual personalities, he wanted children that would turn out exactly like him and become lawyers like he was after they were grown up.

"He didn't care what dreams his sons had, he was determined that we follow the same path. I'm not saying it makes any sense, but a lot of people have expectations of how their children will turn out, and abandon them when they do not, but that usually doesn't happen at least until they hit their teens. Our personalities were just too different from his own when he was the same age that he decided that he wasn't going to stick around, because we weren't turning out like he had expected or wanted.

"Apparently, my father had a lot of friends when he was seven and eight, children the same age as he was, while me and my brothers definitely did not, me in particular. Also the fact that the three of us skipped so many grades was another bone of contention with him and that's when he started to consider us too smart for our own good. He tried to get the three of us interested in baseball since he had played on the Little League team when he was the same age.

"Now while Dylan and Trevyn are much more athletic then I am, they were not the slightest bit interested in playing sports and that really disappointed our father. He's the kind of person that doesn't deal well with being disappointed, especially in the seed of his loins. Also the three of us didn't makes friends easily, unlike our father and the only one we had that was the same age was Bella."

"I had trouble making friends too," Emily admitted, "but that was more because my family moved from place to place when I was a child thanks to my mother being ambassador, then because I was shy. We were never in one place more than a year, maybe two before we moved on to my mother's next posting. It's very hard to make friends or fit in when you're always moving around."

"Our problem was the opposite as we didn't move around like you did. However, we also didn't make any friends, because we were much more intelligent than the other children we went to school with and therefore, they didn't want anything to do with us. Besides, what student, whose at least five years older than you are, want anything to do with a child who they believe shouldn't be in their class? Teenagers tend to resent anyone who is smarter then they are as nobody likes to be shown up by who someone they consider a snotnosed kid, much less three of them. I hope I managed answer your question JJ," Spencer added.

"You did," JJ said looking sad, although Spencer's explanation did make sense.

"I'm not going to pretend to be sorry, that my father's dead, when I feel no such emotion as I'm not a very good actor and you would know instantly that I was lying and I'm not going to do that. You're just going to have to accept the fact that I don't feel anything for my father at all as I didn't hate him, but neither did I love him. I loved him when we were very small, before I realized what kind of man he was, but after that, well, I just did my best to survive. He wasn't really the kind of man that you could love and he's the main reason that I wanted to prove him wrong about me and that I wasn't useless like he believed."

"Your own father called you useless?" JJ said shocked outraged.

"More than once," Spencer told her honestly. "He truly believed that we would never amount to anything, because we didn't have his outgoing personality."

"That's stupid," Morgan commented his voice a growl, now sorry that Spencer's father was dead so he couldn't give the man a piece of his mind.

"I never said it wasn't stupid, Morgan," Spencer told him smiling as he was glad that his and Morgan's relationship was starting to get back on track, "just that's what father believed. He truly believed that a man had to be personable and charismatic to get anywhere in this life and that intelligence was okay just so you weren't smarter then any five people put together or at least didn't let people know you were."

Spencer shrugged as if to say that's just the way it was.

"Let's change the subject, shall we?" Hotch suggested with steel beneath his tone. "There's no reason to keep talking about what a ponce Spencer's father was. Just because Spencer doesn't have any feelings for his father does not mean we need to continue to dissect the man's motives."

Hotch knew very well just because Spencer pretended not to care about what had happened to his father, didn't mean he didn't have some feelings about the subject of the man who had abandoned him, even if he could fool the other's into believing he didn't and the emotions Spencer was experiencing were not exactly good ones, quite the opposite in fact.

Spencer kept telling himself that he didn't care about what happened to his father when he really did. Hotch knew that his mate often wished that his father had cared about his wife and his sons, instead of being the uncaring, unloving, insensitive boar he was, acting more human then wolf, which was a grave insult to someone who could change anytime they liked into their wolf shape, except on the full moon where the change was a forgone conclusion.

Rossi changed the subject and the others took that as their cue to drop the subject of Reid's family.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~


	22. Chapter 22

Part 22

"You know it just occurred to me to ask you whether a human could be changed into a werewolf or not," Spencer said, as he and his mate laid together on the couch with Spencer laying on top of Hotch's chest since he was more solid, their legs tangled together so thoroughly that it was hard to tell where either set began or ended.

"No, not in the way you mean," Hotch answered immediately.

Even though the two of them had been together for over three years, almost four now, Spencer was still learning things about werewolf culture and probably would be for the next 15 years, considering that the two of them didn't have time for formal lessons.

"If a werewolf is bitten by a human, yes, it's infectious," Hotch began to explain. "However, a human that is bitten almost never learns how to control their change and can only normally transform on the full moon, mostly because they never learn how to shift on their own and only take on their wolf shape when forced and almost never voluntarily. The problem though, is that werewolves who are not born being able to change are nothing but ravaging, monsters just like those in the movies and their minds are subsumed by the part of them that is wolf. It is very rare that a human who is bitten can learns to control themselves when they change on the full moon and therefore, those types of werewolves are immediately hunted down and put to death. I'm sure you know the reason why it must be that way."

Spencer had learned enough about werewolves culture in the almost four years that he and Aaron had been together, so he understood the meaning of what his mate was trying to imply immediately.

"If a werewolf can't control their change they are in danger of biting a human when they change on the full moon and therefore, infecting that person, which just creates a vicious cycle," said Reid. "Since humans can't find out about us bar those humans that actually marry into the pack I can see why they are immediately hunted down and put to death."

"Truthfully, most of those werewolves, which we call Hollywood werewolves, actually welcome death, because their transformation is much more painful than the ones that are born to it and the fact that they don't keep their own minds and I for one I can't blame them."

"And also the fact that they turn into ravaging monsters unable to control the wolf within them on that one night a month," Reid said his voice sad and Hotch immediately agreed. "So have you ever had to participate in a rogue werewolf hunt?"

"No, but my grandfather on my mother's side did, though that was many years ago as not many Hollywood werewolves are created anymore, since for the most part our species has become much more cautious about being away from humans when they transform. Usually they are either with their pack or in their own homes. Unlike those poor souls that were bitten and weren't actually born as werewolves we can control our own mind when we are changed unlike the ones that are portrayed in the movies. However, occasionally you'll get a wolf that's some kind of psychopath and bites a human or even more than one, in some kind of desperate need to get back at them or for some other reason. Of course, occasionally it only happens because a human is trying to kill them, like a hunter and they bite him in order to get away."

"Is our bite infectious all the time or only on the full moon?" asked Spencer.

"Only on the full moon because the rest of the time we aren't forced to change as we're more like the shapeshifters of legend, then true werewolves. Why our bite is only infectious when we are forced to transform on the night of the full moon has never been discovered, but this is where humans got the idea about werewolves way back centuries ago when biting a human was much more common than it is today. Of course, way back centuries ago we didn't have things like cameras or cellphones, that can record your every move if you aren't careful and so it was much easier to get away with stuff like that back then. Also, not many centuries ago arranged marriages between two families of werewolves were much more common than it is today and whether you were unhappy or not divorce was unknown."

"Divorce really didn't start to be legal until the early 20th century at least in this part of the world," Spencer said, "so yes, I can certainly understand how werewolves before divorce was legal could be unhappy with their arranged marriages and yet be unable to get out of it. I can also understand things like family expectations and how it would be hard to buck them in order to go your own way and a lot of people not just werewolves aren't strong enough to do such things as divorce are very common, but back centuries ago it wasn't and so I can see a spouse killing their wife or husband in order to get out of it if it's necessary."

"Yes, that has indeed happened," Hotch agreed calmly. "A lot of times they were caught if not by the police then by the pack and it was an immediate death sentence, at least where the pack was concerned, unless it could be proved that they were being physically abused, because other kinds of abuse even today, much less back then are much harder to prove. The humans back centuries ago considered women property and owned by their father, their brother, their uncle, their male cousin or their husband. It was rare to find a woman without some kind of male relative, although that did occasionally occur to. Just so you know in the pack things were different and women no matter what the laws were not treated as property for the most part, although there were exceptions to every rule."

"And yet those werewolves or even humans that insisted on the arranged marriages for two people that just weren't suited to each other and yet it was the person who had murdered their spouse that was punished. Talk about an unfair and discriminatory law as I know that at least 98 percent of the time it was a female that got the worst of the deal," Spencer said

"Times are different now, and women are treated equally for the most part," Hotch said. "Of course, arranged marriages still happen, they just aren't as common as they were centuries ago."

"Like your parents," Spencer murmured thoughtfully.

"Yes, like my parents," Hotch agreed immediately. "Luckily, that doesn't happen too often anymore."

"I'm glad in your parents case that it did happen as you never would have been born and we never would have met," Spencer said sounding all choked up at that.

"Despite my crappy childhood I'm glad that I was born to," Hotch murmured soothingly to his mate rubbing his back with one hand.

"I'm sorry for getting so emotional," Spencer apologized. "It's just that I've been so happy for almost 4 years now, and I can't imagine my life without you and the children, including my half siblings in it."

"You don't have to apologize," Hotch told Spencer still in a soothing tone of voice. "Believe me, I share your feelings, and I'm so glad that you were born despite your crappy childhood. The two of us were simply two lost souls that found each other, two souls that both had crappy childhoods even if it was in different ways."

"Even if I didn't want to admit it at first," Spencer said with humor in his voice. "The human part of me anyway, as the wolf in me was practically panting and begging me to release it from where I had it caged. I know now that it recognized the connection that existed between us."

Reid had long ago come to accept that his mate had done the right thing in forcing him to have sex that first time as he had known immediately that he and Aaron Hotchner belonged together as soon as Hotch had released his seed into his body that first time and the connection they shared had snapped into place in his soul.

"I said it before, but I'll say it again if you had been raised in a pack and been taught our history, traditions and our laws, then you would not have been so resistant to the idea," Hotch agreed calmly.

"I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating," Reid said. "Definitely not. I would have known what to expect, even if I didn't believe it would happen to. I know now that young pups of opposite sexes are taken aside separately and certain things explained to them in private. The way you describe it is being done certainly makes more sense then leaving a werewolf child of a certain age in the dark like William Reid did."

"William Reid was an aberration," Hotch snorted. "It's a very rare werewolf whether male or female that fails in their duties to their pups, which still happens occasionally as you have personal experience with."

The two men fell silent for a few minutes and Reid seemed to be thinking about something deeply.

"What's on your mind?" Hotch asked his mate finally as he had expected Reid to say something much sooner just from the intense look of concentration on his face.

"Well, I was just thinking about all those movies like Teen Wolf where the teenager transforms into a kind of half wolf, half human figure and where the human got that idea from. Alright, I understand movies with supposedly fully transformed werewolves in them as you have explained quite well how humans got the idea. However, what about those movies like Teen Wolf I just mentioned and several others, where did those ideas come from, although I know it's possible that humans could've come up with the idea on their own, since the creature in that movie was the perfect blend of wolf and human," Spencer explained.

"Hm, well, it is possible to transform between your human self and your wolf form until you look pretty much like those actors in the movies. It's hard form to master though, because you're both man and wolf and you're more visible then you would be if you were either in your wolf form or your human one. In the human form, well, nobody can tell you aren't normal and in your wolf form, nobody has any idea that you're anything but a real wolf. However, if they have seen you in what is cross between your wolf form and your human one, well, people talk and all that and there's no way that a human would keep seeing something like that to themselves," Hotch explained.

"Oh, I see," Spencer said, as he absorbed what he had been told.

"I know it's stunning, that's it's even possible, however, not many wolves will change into their in-between form as it's too difficult to control themselves and it's definitely more visible, then their forms at either end of the spectrum."

"I bet you have some of the abilities in that in-between form then you do in your normal wolf and human forms," Spencer speculated.

"Oh, you do," Hotch said with a smirk. "You have hands and feet, instead of paws, and you have claws instead of finger or toenails. You have a human enough mouth and vocal cords to speak even if your comes out much lower and huskier than your normal human voice, which I suppose is a cross between your wolf form and your human one. Your body is also covered half in fur and half in your human skin and you also have a tail just like you do when in your wolf form."

"Yes, I can see how that form would be more highly visible then the other two forms," said Spencer sounding fascinated.

"You also have certain enhanced abilities. You're much faster in that form depending on what kind of wolf you are, of course. Like me I wasn't built for speed or long chases like you were and I definitely can't turn on a dime like you can. No, I was built for power and am able to bull my way through obstacles that you can't and I am also built for fighting, so I can take down opponents, that would kill you unless you got away. On the other hand, though you can run much faster then wolves like me and therefore, you can outrace them, so long as you don't tire yourself out, which you used to be able to do easily until you built up your stamina from all the exercising you do. In your in-between form though, you wouldn't be as fast as you would have to run on your human legs, instead of four paws, for what you give up in speed you also get other advantages like being able to use your hands. In my case, I'm faster in that form then I am in my wolf form. As you already know, you are able to take down a deer, but are unable to keep it down or make the kill, because you don't have the muscles or bulk for I while I can do both. The two of us working together make a formable team."

"Yes, we do," Spencer agreed immediately. "I enjoy hunting with you and you already have my thanks for teaching me those skills. Do you think you can teach me how to transform into my in-between form?"

"If you really want me to I can," Hotch said. "You might never need it, but then you never know and in any case, it's a good talent to have in case you do. As soon as we get some free time I'll start teaching you how to shift and all the skills that come along with it. Besides, I've heard the sex is spectacular in that form, although I've never tried it to know if it's true or not, that's just what I've heard."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it," Spencer said gratefully.

"No thanks, necessary," Hotch said. "I'm happy to do it and I would love to try having sex in that form once you learn how to control myself, so long as you want to."

"Absolutely and it doesn't even matter if we leave scratches on each other due to our claws, because we heal so quickly," Spencer said enthusiastically.

"Alright then," Hotch said his voice sounding anything but calm now. "Once you have mastered that form we'll give it a try. It gives both of us something to look forward too."

"That it does," Spencer agreed, as he buried his face in the side of his mate's neck where Hotch could feel the heat from his embarrassment. Spencer was still so shy when it came to talking about the sexual act, even just with him. It didn't really matter though, because it just made him want to be even more tender with the man he adored, more then he'd thought he was capable of being.

The two men fell silent and Hotch could tell Spencer was again deep in thought, but he left his mate to them and just enjoyed the weight of Spencer laying on his chest.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

A year and eight months later

Rrring! Rrring!

Hotch awoke with the start, as he and Spencer were curled up in bed together cuddled close to each other, their limbs so intertwined that it was hard to tell where one set of limbs began or ended.

Hotch knew that it must be extremely important as he saw from the clock that it was only 3:30 in the morning. He and Spencer had fucked each other senseless before finally drifting contently off to sleep and so they'd only been asleep for about an hour and a half. Since it was the weekend neither he or Spencer had a problem with making love multiple times before finally drifting off to sleep and that was exactly what they had done, once their very active libidos had been satisfied, not to mention the wolves within them both. The wolf within him liked to fuck his mate senseless, fast and hard and Spencer never seemed to mind in the least when he was in the mood to do just that and in fact, encouraged him as much as possible. Spencer had confided to him awhile back, that he liked it both ways and he did not mind when Hotch was hard and rough with him as he knew he would heal in a matter of hours from the soreness. Of course, Spencer, always got his own pleasure out of the deal and he often took his long thick cock in his mouth and brought him to satisfaction that way. However, only he was allowed to use his penis to penetrate his mate since he would never concede to being on the bottom, as he was too much of an Alpha male for that and the wolf in him would never allow it no matter how much he adored and trusted the man who was his Lifemate. He would never play the submissive role, which is what being on the bottom during sex meant to many people, but luckily, Spencer didn't mind in the least being on the bottom and therefore, the submissive position, so there were definitely no problems in that area. Spencer had admitted to him that he wasn't sure he would enjoy being on top because he just didn't have the type a personality to get any satisfaction out of it and so being on the bottom was just fine with him. Besides, Spencer had found other ways to more than satisfy him, even when he didn't penetrate the younger man, at least right away and so their sexual relationship was more than satisfactory.

"Hello?" Hotch said, as soon as he answered his cell phone.

"Hotch, you need to come to the BAU right away Strauss has just been blown up," JJ said into the phone.

"What?" Hotch asked in shock, which made Spencer look apprehensive, because it was hard to shock his lover.

"Apparently, there was a bomb in her car," JJ explained. "I'm not exactly sure when it was placed, although I would've thought it would have gone off earlier. I'm also not exactly sure why Strauss was here at 3 o'clock in the morning. At the moment the bomb squad is still trying to get the door off the car once the fire was put out. I can't tell you much more, except that Strauss is definitely dead she slumped over the wheel."

"We'll figure it out," Hotch promised. "Spencer and I will be there as soon as we can."

Hotch hung up the phone and as soon as he did Spencer asked, "What happened?"

"That was JJ. Strauss was killed in a car explosion."

"What?" Spencer asked blinking rapidly as he absorbed the information.

"Apparently, Strauss was at the office for some reason, although at the moment that reason is unknown. There's really not much information right now, like what kind of bomb it was. It could've gone off as soon as she turned on the engine for instance. In any case, JJ said that she was blown up, but that the body looks relatively intact," Hotch explained.

"Well, Strauss death is rather...surprising," Reid said slowly. "I'm not at all sorry that she's gone, since I hated her guts, but even she didn't deserve to be blown up."

"There's not really any pleasant way to die except perhaps, of old age," Hotch said and Spencer nodded in agreement.

"We had better get dressed," Spencer groaned, stretching as he tried to untangle his legs from his mate's. "It looks like the two of us are going to be short on sleep for the rest the night, at least."

"I know," Hotch agreed. "We only got about an hour an a half, since we couldn't seem to get enough of each other's bodies and didn't actually fall a sleep until two."

"I suppose we'll survive," Spencer said, even as he yawned. "I don't regret that we were up so late fucking each other senseless, as it is the weekend and neither one of us expected to be called in, so we didn't bother to go to bed at a reasonable hour, since we should've been able to sleep in."

"Oh, well," Hotch said shrugging philosophically. "This won't be the first time we've had too little sleep, we'll survive."

"That we will," Spencer agreed even as a silly grin appeared on his face. "Besides, the sex is so spectacular I'm not about to complain about the lack of sleep or the soreness."

Hotch smirked at that, but didn't reply verbally just kissed Spencer tenderly on the lips before he rose from the bed. "We need to get ready and head into the BAU. JJ will be expecting us soon."

"All right," Spencer agreed also raising from the bed noticing that he was still slightly sore from his and Aaron's lovemaking. He knew that would disappear in a few more hours, but until then he was going be moving rather gingerly and would be walking with a slight limp until the soreness went away. However, the sex was so worth it, so he wasn't about to complain.

"Who knows we might actually get someone who won't try to transfer one of us away if they find out about our relationship," Spencer mused

"Oh, I don't believe that, whoever takes over as section chief will do that once they see our rate of solving cases which is close to 95%. If they transfer you away that rating will probably drop somewhere in the 80% range, as that's what it was before you joined the team. It was around 81 or 82 percent before you joined that team if I'm remembering correctly," Hotch smirked. "Whoever they assign to be unit chief, isn't going to have a bias against the team like Strauss had and so long as we continue to act professionally on the job that person isn't going to care if we are in a relationship or not."

Spencer blinked at that for he hadn't realized that the team's rate of solving cases had gone up quite so much since he had joined them, but then again he'd never bothered to check what it was before his admittance to the unit at just 23.

"Probably not," Spencer admitted coming back to himself and continued to brush his teeth before he went and got his clothes on.

A few minutes later Spencer was ready to go and Hotch was just finishing up by shaving quickly.

"Let's go," Hotch finally announced and Spencer followed his mate out of their bedroom and down the stairs to the back door where the garage was located.

Hotch got behind the wheel and Spencer got in on his side and as soon as they had buckled their seatbelts Hotch backed out of the garage and they were gone.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

Spencer and Hotch arrived at the scene of the explosion and Spencer whistled immediately in appreciation as he noticed the burned out husk of Strauss's vehicle. That explosion had left the car's frame burnt black, but still basically intact, except for the windows which had shattered during the explosion.

"From what I can see that explosion was just powerful enough, to kill Strauss, but not totally destroy the car," Spencer said, as he walked closer to the car of the burned out vehicle and examined it closely ignoring all the other emergency vehicles and police.

"Hey what are you doing over there, you can't be here," called a voice.

Spencer looked up and saw one person coming towards him who was probably a detective considering that he wasn't in a uniform.

JJ approached the man and calmly whispered in his ear and the detective stopped and looked at JJ in astonishment.

"You've got to be kidding me! This kid who can't be more than 25 is part of your team?"

"I'm actually 27, nearly 28 thank you," Spencer told the man calmly, before turning back to examining the vehicle.

Hotch glared at the man who didn't notice his hostile stare then turned away ignoring the rude detective. Hotch knew intellectually that people making comments about Spencer's apparent age happened a lot, because his mate looked so young and normally it was people over 30 that were part of the BAU and closer to 40 then 30. He knew that would stop once Spencer was over 30, at least mostly, although there would always be idiots out there that felt Spencer didn't belong, just because he looked younger than his years, like a kid playing grownup.

"The body is still mostly in one piece and if the explosion had been more powerful, well, we'd be looking for pieces of her with pairs of tweezers," Spencer continued ignoring the detective who had been so rude. "The autopsy should tell us more."

"The bomb was under the front seat," Morgan continued having been down on his knees looking underneath the front seat of the vehicle. "I would say it went off as soon as she sat down and started the engine. It was likely on a timer that went off in probably less than a minute, either that or it had a pressure plate that activated it as soon as Strauss sat down or perhaps, a combination of both."

"We should start Garcia reviewing the footage from the video cameras that are in the parking lot," Emily continued. "There might be something there, although if our unsub was smart, we probably won't get a clear picture."

"Still, we need to check anyway," JJ said having come over to join the rest of the team.

The detective who had been so rude realized that he had been wrong as he should have known that there was no way some civilians would be anyway near a crime scene and that this Spencer Reid would have had to show ID to the guard in order to get this far. Still, it was an honest mistake as Dr. Spencer Reid as Jennifer Jareau had told him had been part of the team for quite sometime, as he had been placed in the unit after graduation from the Academy, because he was a genius with an eidetic memory and several college degrees. The detective noticed how the other team members accepted him and listened when he spoke, which meant that they valued his opinion and the detective couldn't see him still remaining on the team if he didn't pull his weight, as he knew that the government would never keep him on if he didn't. The detective stood back not interfering as this was FBI jurisdiction considering it had happened right outside their place of work and Erin Strauss had been a federal employee. He didn't like it in the least, but there was nothing he could do about it without causing a big stink and he wouldn't win anyway, so he didn't bother to try.

"So?" Hotch asked Spencer, as he came to stand beside his mate appreciating the way that Reid filled out his slacks and shirt, although he showed no sign of it outwardly.

"Well, we'll be able to determine more after the autopsy," Reid said, as he continued to examine the body. "However, from what I can determine on my initial examination is that Strauss got into the car on her own, as there are no signs that she was forced. Of course, my opinion might change once we get the tox report back as there could be some kind of sedative in her system, although the moment I don't see any signs of an injection."

The rest of the team gave Hotch their observations, as they continued to examine the crime scene and Hotch just listened thinking that his team was a well oiled unit and didn't let their egos get in the way of doing their jobs like so many agents did, which is why their crime solving rate was so high.

"Alright, I think we have found all there is to find here," Hotch said finally. "It's time we allow the medical examiner to determine exactly how Strauss died. Once we get the toxicology report back maybe we'll learn more."

JJ had already arranged to transport the body to the coroner and so Strauss was finally removed from the burned out husk of her car and placed in a body bag to be transported for her autopsy.

"I think that's all that's going to get done tonight, we might as well go back to bed and get some rest," Hotch ordered and the rest of the team looked happy with that announcement. "We can start after we've had a few more hours of rest."

"That certainly gets my vote," Morgan said. "My bed is calling my name."  
"Mine too!" Emily piped up happily. "It's early Saturday morning and we should have been able to sleep in, so that's definitely where I'm headed."

The other team members agreed and headed for their cars after they had made sure that they gathered up all the evidence and stored it properly for when they returned.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

Four months later

Hotch and Spencer walked towards Chief Cruz's office. Mateo Cruz had replaced Erin Strauss within a couple of months and in the meantime Hotch had taken up the slack, which had given him less time to spend with his mate, but he and Spencer had more then understood, even if neither of them liked it. When Cruz had finally arrived to take over Strauss's former position what had astonished Spencer and Hotch was that Cruz was a werewolf just like them and an Alpha male at that. The team had managed to catch the unsub that had placed the bomb in Strauss's car within a couple of weeks and it had turned out to be one of Strauss's old enemies that had gotten out of prison and had been determined to get revenge.

Not a single member of the team missed Erin Strauss or were in the least sorry that she was dead, even if no one deserved to be blown up, but she had not been a very likable person and so she wasn't really missed.

"What do you think Chief Cruz wants?" Spencer asked his mate.

"Well, we know he's a werewolf, he's probably going to try to assert his authority over us and tell us that we are under his command and while I'm willing to obey orders from him when they make sense and give him my reports, I'm just going to have to prove who's really in charge, at least when it comes to the team itself. He's in charge of the whole section and so long as he doesn't try to interfere with the team like breaking us up we'll get along. It he's anything like Strauss though, we're going to have problems."

"Well, let's hope he doesn't try to do that," Spencer said looking a little worried.

"Really, so long as he doesn't try to abuse his authority either as an Alpha or as section chief then we'll get along," Hotch promised.

Spencer and Hotch fell silent and finally Hotch knocked on Cruz's door and were told to enter.

"You wanted to see us, Chief Cruz?" Hotch asked politely, as he and Spencer stood in front of the new section chief's desk.

"Why don't you gentleman sit down," Cruz suggested.

Hotch and Spencer obeyed, but Spencer didn't sit down until Hotch did, which was only right as he was an Omega and he was meant to follow the lead of his Alpha.

Cruz noticed this and silently reevaluated his opinion of the pair. At first he had just believed that Hotch and Spencer had managed to come to an agreement and just work together with little friction and that Reid as the one of lesser rank was just obeying the orders of not only his unit chief, but of the werewolf that was an Alpha and therefore, above him in rank. Now though, as he noticed the subtle gestures he knew that the two of them were mates or at least sexual partners.

"I called you in here, to ask if you are willing to work with me, particularly you Agent Hotchner, since I know that some werewolves like to...shall we say assert their authority. I don't want there to be any unnecessary friction between us," Cruz explained.

"So long as I know you're working in the best interest of my team in particular and you don't try to split us up like Strauss did a few times they we'll get along," Hotch promised.

"So, in other words, so long as I don't abuse my authority, you and I will get along," Cruz summarized and Hotch nodded.

"Yes," Hotch agreed calmly. "I was actually offered the position of section chief, but I enjoy being a field agent and I wouldn't be very happy sitting behind a desk, which is why you were appointed. I'm not one to buck authority normally, unless I feel that authority is abusing their position or if their orders don't make any sense to the situation."

"Then we'll get along just fine, as I have no intention of interfering with your team so long as it's running smoothly," Cruz said and Hotch nodded relaxing.

"In that case, we will get along just fine," Hotch promised.

"Now, I know this is a personal question but are you and Dr. Reid in a relationship?" asked Cruz.

"We're Lifemates," Reid answered speaking for the first. Spencer had relaxed as the conversation had gone on, as apparently Cruz wasn't interested in challenging Aaron's authority and so long as that was the case then the two men would get along just fine.

"Spencer speaks the truth and we've been in a relationship ever since the first day he walked into my office in the BAU," Hotch added.

Hotch didn't bother to mention the fact that Spencer had had no idea what was going on and why his feelings for his boss had suddenly overwhelmed him. He didn't bother the explain that Spencer hadn't understood why the part of him that was wolf was suddenly going crazy with lust and longing, well, not until Hotch had explained it to him later.

"Well, it's evident that you too can work together with no problems as the BAUs percentage of solving cases and catching criminals has gone up instead of down and so I have no objection."

"Good," Hotch said pleased. "Because I guarantee you, we had to keep our relationship extremely quiet for if Strauss had known she would have transferred one of us likely me or tried to anyway. It wouldn't have mattered that we'd proved again and again for years that we can work together and that we don't let our relationship get in the way of our professionalism, she still would've tried it out of sheer spite. Also it wouldn't have mattered that relationships might be discouraged, but they are allowed so long, as what I said just a second ago can be proven. Of course, I would have fought such a move and likely even won, but I'm glad I didn't have too."

"I am not unaware that Strauss interfered more in your unit then she did in any other and I had no idea that there was so much animosity between you," Cruz said. "Why is that?"

"Strauss believed that we should always go by the book," Hotch explained calmly. "However, as I'm sure you're aware the book doesn't always cover every situation and I'm afraid that if my team always went by the book then one or more of them would be dead by now. There have been no deaths on my team since I've been in charge, although I'm not unaware that Mark Ryan did die years ago, but that was not under my leadership. Years ago, when the FBI first started not going by the book, well, it could get you fired if you didn't or at least a black mark on your record. In this century though if you don't go by the book you're considered a maverick, someone who has the instincts to know when it's necessary to go by the book, but also knows when the book doesn't cover a situation and is willing to not use it when necessary. Mavericks today are often awarded for their intelligence and leadership qualities. Strauss was extremely old school and thought I was a bad influence."

"So you're saying that you and Strauss often clashed, because she was a by the book person while you are at when the situation calls for it," Cruz summarized.

"That's it," Hotch said. "Of course, we have to realize that Strauss joined the Bureau years before I did, and back when she joined going by the book was always necessary and if you deviated from it, it usually got you written up at least. However, that doesn't excuse her attitude and how she was always interfering in our unit when she really didn't have the right to. I know she was section chief, but she interfered in our unit, when the situation didn't call for it a lot of times. She tried her best to find a reason to transfer one member away or even fire them, me in particular, since the rest of the team was just following orders. She never succeeded, as she could never find a legit reason for transferring one of us, as we made sure to never give her one and there was no way she'd risk her own position in order to do it without a very good reason."

Cruz absorbed that and found he had to agree at least from the reports he had read. He had known that Strauss interfered in the BAU, in particular Aaron Hotchner's team, more than any other unit and now he knew why. Cruz was also aware that Strauss's vendetta was garnering her attention she probably hadn't wanted and if she hadn't been murdered she was very close to losing her position or being transferred at least and probably fired, not that mattered anymore.

"Does the team know of your relationship?" asked Cruz.

"Yes, because we never could've kept it from them," Spencer explained not having said much until now. "We kept it quiet for the first year, slept in separate hotel rooms, things like that until we felt that we'd had a chance to get to know each other so the team wouldn't be suspicious when we officially got together. Being separated at night, when we were in some city working was hard, but we got through it."

"I initially suggested that we should give it a couple years, but then we decided together that a year was more than enough time because neither one of us was sure we could make it another year without at least being able to share the same bed at night when we were out of town," Hotch admitted without hesitation. "Even though Spencer was spending all his time over at my house when we weren't on a case, it was still hard to be separated, especially at night since we traveled so much. As Spencer said however, we got through it and never again will we be separated for any length of time like we were for that first year."

"I don't know how you did it," Cruz said making a face as the scenario was hard for him to imagine. "Me and my mate Molli, well we've never been separated like that, as I didn't meet her until after I stopped being a field agent. We've been married for 15 years now, and had eight pups during that time. I can't imagine being away from Molli for days at a time, even if I worked closely with her like you two do, especially not for the first year or two after we had met."

"It wasn't easy," Spencer admitted quietly, "but that year passed really quickly considering we were gone for so much of it and at least we worked closely together during the day, even if we couldn't be together at night, not until we let the team in on the fact that we were together in that way."

And the sex afterwards was always spectacular considering that we had abstained for several days, sometimes longer, Hotch smirked to himself. Hotch knew that his mate would be blushing bright red if he knew what direction his thoughts were headed, so he made sure keep his expression normal, even as he smirked to himself as he remembered some of those lovemaking sessions inwardly.

"Well, I'm glad that we will be able to work together then," Cruz said.

"We will," Hotch agreed. "I can already tell that you are going to be more reasonable and less interfering than Strauss was."

"I'll leave your team alone," Cruz agreed, "so long as there are no complaints against you then that's the way it will be."

Hotch was more than satisfied on the matter of the new section chief and knew that Cruz was a good man that was going to do his job properly instead of trying to find incriminating evidence to split up the team or just being obstinate about things like vacation time.

A few minutes later Hotch and Spencer were leaving Cruz's office and Spencer finally fully relaxed since there had been no confrontation

"Well, that went better than I expected," Spencer said quietly once they were well away from Cruz's office.

"Cruz is a good man and he's going to do his job and that means not interfering with the team so long as it's running smoothly and there are no problems and that is what a section chief is supposed to do not try to interfere in one of the team taking vacation time, especially when it's solely needed as a time to decompress, or questioning every little decision the team makes on a case, which you know I've been running interference with Strauss for the last few years and I'll no longer have to do that," Hotch said.

"Good, because it just causes you stress, and makes you all tense and grouchy," Spencer said frankly. "Of course, the way that we relieve that stress is always..."

"Mindblowing?" Hotch suggested with a little smile.

"Now there is a word for it," Spencer said with a smirk of his own. "Still, I'm glad that that's one particular thing you don't have to deal with anymore, as it meant that you had less time to spend with me. I understood the reason of course, but now maybe you'll have more time for us."

"Yeah, I will," Hotch said, smiling as he thought about that "and to celebrate I'm taking you out to dinner tonight, as we haven't had time to do that in awhile so long as we don't catch a case by the end of the day."

Spencer didn't bother to protest, as he knew that these little breaks were very much needed, as the two of them couldn't just go straight home every night and not try to enjoy themselves with a dinner or a lunch out. Their relationship was about more than sex or just spending time together at their house in bed or with the dozen pups in their care, it was about so much more and they so rarely had a chance to indulge in an evening out that they needed to take them when they could.

"Sounds like a plan," was Spencer said and Hotch turned and smiled at him, as the two of them walked back into the BAU.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**


	23. Chapter 23

Part 23

"You know now that Strauss is gone we could actually have a wedding ceremony," Spencer mentioned, as he and Aaron were enjoying an intimate dinner for two with candlelight.

"We can also do what we've both been wanting and have children that share both our genes," Hotch mentioned. "Our oldest children are nearly 11 years old the ones we rescued where their mother tried to murder them are 4. I think this is a perfect time to have a few pups of our own."

"I hadn't thought of that," Spencer admitted, "but you're right with Strauss gone and Cruz being a werewolf he won't mind and he definitely won't be investigating where they come from, as I'm sure he's intelligent enough to understand that we went through IVF."

"Not to mention he knows about our relationship while Strauss didn't. Of course, both of us worked hard to keep Strauss from finding out, but we don't need to do the same for Cruz. That Strauss would find out about our relationship was my biggest worry as you know. We both know that she would have tried her best to transfer or fire one of us, likely me. Now that she's dead we should be able to have that wedding ceremony if we want to and go ahead with our plan to use IVF to have a few children. Really having a werewolf as section chief, one who is at least so far very reasonable, is the best thing that could have happened. So far Cruz doesn't seem too inclined poke into our personal lives, like Strauss was."

"Yeah, I agree with that," Spencer agreed, as he and Hotch shared a romantic dinner for two of steak cooked as rare as possible, so the meat was blood red, dripping and juicy. "You also have to remember that Strauss had a personal vendetta against you in particular, which is why she was always trying to dig up some dirt and find something that would at least get you fired. I know she felt that you were dishonoring the bureau by not going by the book a lot of times and encouraging your team do the same, which is just stupid. If we don't change with the times as criminals get more devious and intelligent then the FBI puts it's agents in even more danger then they are normally in and every units crime solving rate would go in the toilet."

"Strauss didn't see it that way, as she thought that we should continue using the book that was becoming more outdated the more that situations came up that weren't in it, which is why it desperately needs to be updated," Hotch said and Spencer nodded. "Of course, that wasn't her only problem with me as you know."

"I do," Spencer agreed. "Places like the FBI need to change with the times, because we are not back in the times of Bonnie and Clyde and other gangsters anymore as technology has advanced a lot since then and a lot of scenarios in the book aren't exactly relevant to today. By the way, I think your idea of finally having some children of our own is a good idea even if I love the 12 we have. It doesn't matter to me that your eight don't have my blood, just as I know it doesn't matter to you that my 4 half siblings that I adopted as my own don't share any of yours."

"Still, the world needs a few more little Hotchners and Reids," Hotch teased his mate who laughed.

"Please, I think your parents did a good job of making sure the Hotchner name continued considering they had 29 children in about a dozen years and that doesn't even include the ones that have been born since, when some of your brothers and sisters finally got married and had pups of their own. Also I don't think the Reid name as in any danger of dying out not with me and my brothers still alive, healthy and young. I know my brothers aren't involved in relationships right now, at least as far as I know and they definitely don't have any pups. Still, they are young enough to have 20 pups apiece if that's what they want even if they don't get married for another five or more years. Besides, you forget that my father had another dozen pups by his second wife Lynda, not to mention the dozen illegitimate ones he had, so I don't think that the Reid name is in any danger of dying out anytime soon either, even if I cared whether it did or not, which I really don't one way or the other," Spencer said causing Hotch to laugh.

"You're right, neither one of our names is in danger of dying out anytime soon," Hotch agreed with a smile that lit up his face and reached all the way to his eyes. "I was only teasing you, but then again you knew that."

"I did," Spencer responded with a smile of his own. "However, I agree that the world does need a few more little Reids and Hotchners so long as they're ours that is, as I want nothing more than to have children with you, even if we have to use a surrogate in order to do that."

"Anastasia is still willing, as I talked to her shortly after Cruz took over the section chief position and she and Thierry are between pups right now. We still would've done it in another few years, even if Strauss hadn't been killed, but this makes it easier."

"I see this is something that's been on your mind for awhile," Reid commented.

"Ever since Strauss was killed actually," Hotch admitted. "I knew that this might be our opportunity to finally have a few pups of our own, but of course, I had to wait to see who we got first as section chief before I mentioned it to you, because we still might've gotten someone who was very unreasonable, like Strauss was."

"We were lucky that we got another werewolf who understands the strong biological imperative our species has to have children," Spencer said. "Cruz will understand our need to have some pups of our own, ones that share both our bloods, even if we have to go through the IVF process in order to accomplish that."

"It helps that Cruz is also married to his Lifemate. Two werewolves who are Lifemates, well, their biological imperative is even stronger then two werewolves who are just married to each other. I'm actually surprised that Cruz and his wife, I think he said her name was Molli, only had eight."

"Children are expensive to raise and Cruz doesn't make that much as section chief and depending on what his wife does for a living maybe that was all they felt that they could afford," Spencer suggested then added. "Really, there are multiple reasons why they only had eight. For instance its possible that his wife had trouble giving birth the last time and the doctor told her not to have anymore."

"True enough," Hotch admitted. "That is a problem that plagues humans and werewolves alike. I admit it happens more often in humans where a woman has trouble giving birth and the doctor recommends they not have anymore, but it is a problem with werewolves to, just not as often."

"Having a dozen pups is okay if you can afford them, but it's possible that 8 was more than enough for Cruz and his wife," Spencer said.

"So if we're going do a wedding ceremony what kind do you want? One with a lot of guests or small private one down at the courthouse?" asked Hotch.

"Oh, a small private one will do," Spencer said. "We just had that commitment ceremony recently and our guests saw that we were in a committed relationship, so we can just get married quietly if you want, as it doesn't matter to me either way, although I think getting it done down at the courthouse would be simpler. Really, the only difference will be is we'll be wearing wedding bands, instead of the necklaces that go on under our shirts that we chose before, because we didn't want to be too obvious about our relationship, just in case someone cottoned on to it from the rings alone, even if that possibility was extremely small."

"Well, we had to be really careful, when we first got together because of Strauss, but now while we still have to be careful, we can afford not to be not quite as cautious as before."

"So long as Cruz knows about our relationship, then there's really nothing else the higher-ups can do, because relationships are not forbidden, just strongly discouraged," Spencer said who had read the manual cover to cover and remembered every word. "This is what you said to me when I first told you that we shouldn't have a relationship, because of the fact that you were my boss. The wolf in me disagreed violently with that statement by the way, even though I had him caged."

Hotch smirked at that. "I knew the wolf in you wanted me at that time, but it was your human portion that was giving you trouble."

"Not anymore," Spencer told Hotch quietly leaning over just enough to kiss his cheek. "Both wolf and man love you and would never even think about leaving you as I've told you before, but it still bears repeating. The wolf in me might have been the first to trust you, but my human portion wasn't far behind. You had gained my trust within just a few weeks, which is really fast for me, so I think having pups to celebrate the fact that we are together and will never be parted save by the death of one of us is a wonderful idea, which I told you several years ago when you first suggested it. Children or pups as you call them are just an expression of a couple's love for each other, even if many marriages end in divorce and the children get caught in the middle."

"Good," Hotch said touched at his mate's words and squeezed his hand to show his appreciation. "Then we are in agreement. I'll talk to Thierry, Anastasia and my sister Arissa as soon as possible as she's the one that looks the most like me that isn't mated or even has a significant other."

"You should be aware, even if you ask one of your sisters that doesn't look a thing like you other than having the same general features that it's still very possible that any children will come out with your black hair and dark eyes because both of these traits are dominant, although I will admit since blonde hair runs in your family it's possible that at least one of our pups would get it."

"Well, if Arissa isn't willing then I'll have to do that, but still the chances will increase of our pups looking like me if I asked one of my sisters who has the same dark hair and eyes that I do."

"It's only a slim possibility that one or more of the four would get brownish blond hair, like your mother, but still it is a possibility since it happened with Sean and several of your siblings, although the majority of them did get your father's dark hair and dark brown eyes. Besides, you need to remember that my mother had blond hair to, so it's very possible since both of us carry the gene for it that at least one of them will end up with it."

"Yes, most of my siblings did end up with my father's dark hair and eyes," Hotch admitted. "Only about 7 of them have the blondish brown hair and blue eyes of my mother, while three others got my mother's hair, but my father's dark brown eyes."

"Which is pretty unusual, since dark brown eyes don't usually go with brownish blond hair, so this will make those of your siblings that got those particular features extremely striking more so then those that got what is considered normal facial features for their skin type. Actually it's a pretty good percentage considering that black hair and brown eyes are dominate," Spencer said. "Still, that's not even half of your siblings."

"True," Hotch admitted. "It's really only about a quarter of them."

Both men were silent for a moment and then Spencer said, "I think if we are going to go through with this, that we should keep the number of eggs we use to four, although I know the Delacroixs volunteered to carry up to six embryos we don't want to put Anastasia under any pressure, as carrying four pups at time is going to be hard enough on her body."

"That's fine," Hotch immediately agreed. "Four are a lot safer to give birth to then six anyway even if c-sections are now common for such situations."

"Actually, I'm planning for the future," Spencer explained.

"What do you mean?" asked Hotch curiously.

"It's just that identical twins seem to run in my father's side of the family," Spencer explained. "I had Garcia do some research into my family tree on the Reid side, further back then she went originally and she managed to trace it back about 400 years, which is quite an accomplishment actually. I know there is no scientific evidence to suggest that identical twins run in a person's family line, however, it seems to run in the Reid line as every generation or sometimes two an identical set of twins is born, to at least one of the current Reids, as usually they have multiple pups, just like most werewolves. In a few cases it was two sets of identical twins, born to two different Reids, there was even one case where three sets of identical twins were born to my so many times great-grandfather and his wife and it was considered almost a miracle at that time, as was the fact that the mother lived though all the births. I'm just taking precautions in case one or more of the embryos split."

"Maybe it has something to do with the werewolf genes," Hotch speculated.

"Or maybe my family has just been incredibly lucky to have so many sets of identical twins," Reid said with a shrug. "In any case, if one or more of the eggs doesn't split then I think four more infants is more than sufficient as that will give us 16 children and that's plenty for anybody to handle, even if the older ones help care for the younger ones."

"And earn themselves some pocket money, doing so," Hotch smirked. "That's the way it's done in a werewolf pack as I told you. The older children help out with the younger ones, with plenty of adult supervision keeping an eye on them to make sure things go smoothly."

"I'm actually surprised that your older children accepted the responsibility without complaining too much," Spencer admitted. "Normal 10 or 11 year olds reaction to being asked to do something like that would be to whine and try to wiggle out of it, unless like me, Dylan and Trev they are extremely mature for their age."

"Werewolf pups start learning responsibility at an early age by doing chores that are appropriate to that age," Hotch said. "Besides, I'm paying them quite a significant amount for their help while we're gone on cases or busy doing something else and where reminding a pup about their responsibility to the pack, particularly their family, doesn't work, money does. Actually, most of our older pups were willing to help out without being paid, as they have a very keen sense of responsibility even as young as they are that likely partly comes from the way they were raised by Lisa and Maddy and us of course. Besides, it's in the genes for them to be responsible considering who their mother was. Still, I didn't see any harm in giving them some pocket money for helping out, kind of like an allowance and this gives them some money to buy the things they want like books or a special pair of tennis shoes and the like, when their birthdays or Christmas are months away."

"It sure has made it easier on us," Spencer said appreciatively. "We now get more time alone than we did when we first met."

"And relieves the load on Lisa and Maddy to, which they appreciate," Hotch smirked. "Thanks to the older pups help neither one of us had to hire anyone else to help look after the four that were added to the original eight, so the money I give the older ones is more than worth it."

"The years have passed so fast," Spencer mused.

"That they have," Hotch agreed. "It won't be long until the older ones will be off to college. I know technically it's still years away, but sometimes time passes so fast as you just said that it will go by in the blink of an eye."

"Ever since we met I've been so happy with my life and that's mostly thanks to you, although the team and the children are certainly part of the equation as well," Spencer said.

"I've certainly been happier with my life since you came into it," Hotch said softly, which Spencer had already known, as Aaron told him often enough, in various ways, not always verbally.

Both of them enjoyed their dinner gobbling down their steaks before even looking at their sides and by the time the steaks and sides were completely gone, both decided that they were in no hurry and so ordered dessert to.

Once their desert arrived, they shared it ignoring the stares of the other patrons, some of who looked disgusted to 2 men being together, although no one was actually brave to say anything.

"Shall we head home?" Hotch suggested with a smirk and Spencer knowing exactly what that smirk meant wasn't about to object.

"Sure," Spencer immediately agreed. Spencer knew with that smirk that his mate was in the mood to make love to him all night and that he had a very intense and pleasurable night of lovemaking ahead of him. He wouldn't be surprised in the least if Hotch decided to lock him tonight to where they made love all night long, because his Alpha's penis was locked into his very narrow and tight passage. No matter how sore it made him when Aaron did that he wasn't about to object since he knew he would heal in a matter of hours and the experience was always so pleasurable that even if he had been sore for days he still wouldn't have objected.

"Let's get going then," Hotch suggested his eyes even darker than normal with lust and desire.

Spencer knew that, although and words were polite, it wasn't really a suggestion but an order, but again he wasn't about to object.

"Let's go," Spencer agreed and once Hotch paid the check, both men headed out to their vehicle.

"The sooner I get you home and into bed the better, as I'm barely restraining myself from attacking you right here in the parking lot," Hotch told his mate a soon as a way out of others hearing range.

"I wouldn't object I promise you. However, I really don't want to be arrested for having sex in public, as someone would be bound to come up on us, so it's better if we get home as quickly as possible," Spencer said with lust and desire in his own voice.

"I'm ecstatic to know you want me, just as much as I want you," Hotch said and even though Spencer couldn't see his mate's smirk he could hear it in his voice.

"I always do," Spencer replied leaning over to give Aaron a kiss on the cheek, letting his lips linger on the skin. "I've just gotten much better at controlling the lust and desire I have for you the older I get, however, there is no reason to control myself right this minute, so you are welcome to have your way with me."

"I'm glad you approve," Hotch said with growl his voice, "although whether you did or not I would still be getting my satisfaction from your body as soon as we got home and you would enjoy yourself, even if you had objected to us making love in the first place."

"I'll likely never object to doing that particular activity, unless I have a broken arm or leg or some other serious injury," Spencer said with a smile in his voice, "as I always enjoy it and the things you do to me, just as much as you enjoy doing those things to my body. It is an activity that both of us enjoy, so I'm not going to bother to stop you if your feeling particularly horny."

"Oh, I am," Hotch growled playfully. "Of course, I feel horny, hot and bothered quite often when it comes to you, as you as your mere presence is enough to make me feel that way. Once Garcia and JJ educated you on clothing styles, taught you what colors looked good with your skin tone, hair and eyes, then convinced you to buy things that make you look extremely sexy. That you used to those sweater vests and slacks that made you look like some college professor or a reject from the 50s, but the clothes you wear now make you look so delicious that I just can't wait to rip them off you."

Spencer blushed at that, but had to admit that Aaron did have a habit of ripping his clothes right off him if he didn't get them off his body fast enough. Spencer knew that a normal human could never rip something like denim in half like that, but with enhanced werewolf strength it was incredibly easy, especially for a big bulky male like his Alpha, as he had a lot of muscles underneath his suit. Spencer knew however, that no matter what clothes he wore that most women or men for that matter would not have given him more then a passing look. Aaron had told him more than once, said it wasn't because he wasn't handsome it was more his posture and the way he comported himself. He still tended to fade into the background depending on the situation, although he was slowly improving in that area and that most women didn't like someone who made a habit of being unnoticed. When it came to his job and being around the team, even though there were three ladies on it, he was calm and confident, but surrounded by strange women at a bar for instance often made him uncomfortable, which was why he didn't agree to go with Morgan or the others very often. Morgan kept telling him that the more he did something like go to a bar and therefore, got outside his comfort zone the more comfortable he would become in such situations. While Spencer knew this to be true, he was still essentially shy and quiet by nature and liked his life the way it was, so didn't often agree to go for a drink.

"You sure do know how to wreck some perfectly good clothes," Spencer half objected. "I know you have money to burn, but there's no point of wasting it, even if you do get incredibly horny you can control yourself enough to let me get undressed, you just choose not too. I've told you before that I don't like wasting money, and you know why. I know buying a dozen pair of jeans or slacks or shirts isn't going to bankrupt you, but still..."

"Believe me, I understand," Hotch told his mate gently, taking one hand off the wheel to grasp Spencer's hand in his own. "Sometimes the wolf in me takes over, as you look so delectable that I have trouble controlling that part of myself, so I don't bother to try if we are alone. The wolf doesn't care, if he rips your clothes to shreds or what kind of money it cost to buy them as it wants you right then! I always replace them don't I? Even if it's not exactly with the same style."

"You do," Spencer admitted. "Still, I know I'll always have trouble with what I consider wasting money, because of my upbringing, although I do try to keep my comments to myself. My family was never as rich as yours, but if William Reid had stayed, like he should have my brothers and I wouldn't have grown up so poor, as I know he made plenty of money as an attorney. Hell, my mother could've had a dozen children and they would've been plenty of money to raise them all. Considering what happened though I'm glad she didn't because there is no way my brothers and I could have supported that many without the money William Reid made, as we had trouble enough just supporting ourselves."

Hotch no longer thought it strange that Spencer no longer referred to William Reid as his father, as he knew his mate was determined not to think of the man that had shared his genes with him that way and really Hotch could hardly blame his mate for his attitude, considering the man's abandonment and lack of care before that.

"You shouldn't look so delectable when you wear stuff like that then," Hotch said totally unrepentant.

"I could stop buying things like that and go back to what I wore before," Spencer suggested knowing exactly how Aaron was going to react to that suggestion, before it ever left his mouth.

"Don't you dare," Hotch growled. "I like seeing you in those tight fitting jeans that encase your butt and your long legs perfectly and those shirts that show off the muscles you have gained in your arms from all the exercise you've been doing. You've really filled out you know and you're no longer malnourished like you were when we first met and believe me, I appreciate the view. Your long shapely legs, the muscles in your arms and your washboard stomach and I will not be denied, simply because you don't like wasting money when I rip those clothes off you. I never rip your nicer, more expensive things off you just things like jeans and t-shirts, which isn't exactly going to break me if I need to replace them afterwards."

Spencer chuckled, as he had been spot on about his mate's reaction and then he said when Hotch took his eyes off the road to glanced at him curiously, "I knew exactly how you were going to react when I made that suggestion and you did not disappoint me. I won't deny that I hate wasting money, which is why I wear things until they're too worn to wear any longer, however, I know we have money to burn so I don't bother to object to much."

"You were teasing me," Hotch accused inwardly very pleased that Spencer was now comfortable enough to tease him sometimes, even if it wasn't as often as he'd like.

"I was," Spencer admitted candidly, "a little anyway."

"You'll pay for that once I get you home," Hotch mock growled realizing he'd been had.

"I'm looking forward to it," Spencer told his Alpha cheekily knowing he would enjoy the lesson that Aaron would give him, just as he always did when he teased his mate. The way that Aaron responded was to take his time when it came to making love and torture him, sometimes for hours, before he finally allowed him his release. Of course, that didn't mean that Aaron denied himself his own release and in fact he usually came several times before he was allowed to come even once, just without the normal penetration. It was a pleasurable, excruciating, and enjoyable experience all wrapped into one and by the time Aaron was done pleasurably torturing him he was exhausted and his penis exploded all over the sheets and himself or on the floor depending on how he was laying at the time. It wasn't something that either one of them did often, simply because their desire for each other was so great a lot of times, especially if they had abstained for several days due to work, that they were frantic for each others bodies, but occasionally it was a very pleasurable experience.

Spencer readily admitted if only to himself that Aaron was very experienced in the area of sex and knew how to get him to come without penetrating his body. Of course, he was also much more experienced in the area of sex then he had have used to be when the two them had first met.

Hotch finally pulled the car into his own driveway and once he had shut off the engine he ordered roughly, "Into the house! Now! You will go straight to the bedroom, use the bathroom as fast as you can and be waiting for me by the time I get there. You will have all your clothes off or I will rip them from your body and that's a promise! You have teased a wolf, and you will now accept the punishment you deserve for doing so. Now go!"

Spencer obeyed with alacrity and opened his door extracting his house key from his pocket as he went and headed straight into the house after unsetting the alarm.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

Hotch watched Spencer go in satisfaction and knew he would be obeyed to the letter. He smirked as he thought about all the plans he had for his mate and he knew Spencer would enjoy the pleasurable torture that was about to come, which was likely why his lover had teased him in the first place.

Well, if that was the the case he would be glad to oblige. No penetration would be taking place until he was good and ready and that would be at least a couple of hours from now if not more. It all depended on how long he thought his mate's punishment should be for his earlier teasing and whether or not he should keep up the torture until morning since they had the next day off or let Spencer off after just a few hours. Of course, it also depended on how long he could resist just taking his mate as the wolf within him was panting eagerly, obviously feeling very frisky, energetic and playful as he always enjoyed, more than enjoyed actually, the sexual act with his, Spencer. This was why the two of them spent so much of their free time in bed, as they just didn't stick to having sex at night, but often at various times of the day as well. Sometimes it was just a good fast fuck that didn't take more than a few minutes, although no less satisfying for the shortness of it, and other times their making love was slow, but still more then satisfactory and pleasurable.

Hotch was extremely pleased with his mate's progress as he was no longer quite so shy when it came to teasing him or about doing something that made him think of just taking his mate to bed. Spencer always went eagerly as he had come to love having sex with him just as much as he did with his mate. Even though the two of them had been mated for years they still spent a great deal of time in bed together, sometimes just talking, but mostly having sex, which he didn't mind a bit. Despite being over 40 his libido was still very active and he was almost always thinking about taking his mate to bed and making love to him or just fucking him senseless. Of course, they often did both depending on their mood.

Finally he knew he had given Spencer enough time to obey his commands which was less than five minutes, but because he could wait no longer he stalked towards the now unlocked garage door, made sure he reset the alarm and relocked it after he had entered, then stalked towards the stairs at a fast pace and was in the master bedroom in less than a minute.

Hotch observed his mate from the doorway and saw that Spencer had indeed followed his instructions to the letter, although he had expected nothing else, and his lover was already spreadeagled on the bed, buck naked, penis erect, panting eagerly.

"Well, I see you're ready for me," Hotch said smirking evilly stalking into the bedroom, quickly stripping himself out of his clothes after he had shut and locked the bedroom door, so they wouldn't be disturbed. Aaron approached the bed until he was standing at the end of it and silently studied his mate.

Spencer didn't bother to respond just looked eager, as he knew from experience that his mate did not like him to talk when he was being punished, although moans, whimpers and groans of pleasure were permitted. The sounds let his mate know that he to was enjoying the experience, without him having to say a word, not that there was any doubt considering Aaron could feel his emotions. Still, Aaron wasn't so cruel to not allow him to make a sound, because he had nearly bitten through his lip once trying to keep completely silent, as his lover had ordered and so his mate had relented.

"I know I don't need to repeat my instructions to you as I know you remember from the first time you were punished," Hotch began with an evil smirk. "You seem to like being punished a lot, as it happens quite frequently, so we're going to try something different this time."

Spencer looked a little apprehensive, but he knew that Aaron would never hurt him and so he didn't say anything.

Hotch saw the look of fear and apprehensiveness that crossed his mate's face and was inwardly sorry for it, even if it disappeared almost immediately as Spencer no doubt realized that he would never hurt the man he adored.

"There are a pair of padded handcuffs in the bedside table drawer on my side, get them," Hotch ordered.

Spencer gulped a little nervously, as this was a new game, but did as he was ordered.

"Now I want you to put one cuff around your wrist and attach the other one to the headboard," Hotch ordered gruffly the Alpha wolf within him already panting even more in anticipation and eagerness then he had been a few minutes ago.

Spencer obeyed and then waited for further instructions.

"Now, I want to use your free hand to fondle your balls and your cock, but you are not allowed to come until I say so, is that understood?" Hotch barked authoritatively. "Nod if you understand!"

Spencer nodded his head that he understood and Hotch growled lowly pleased, which sent a strong and excruciating shot of pleasure and lust straight to Spencer's groin and made his cock standup even straighter and become even harder and more engorged then it had been previously.

"If you disobey my instructions to come before I am ready to allow you, you will be punished, is that understood?" barked Hotch in a low dangerous voice. "Nod if you understand!

Spencer nodded again more eagerly this time wondering where his mate was going with this, but inwardly eager to find out as he knew that Aaron would never hurt him. Actually, he felt his mate's emotions as there was no way to block them as far as he was aware and he knew that Hotch was just teasing him like he had teased the older man earlier in the car and in the restaurant. He admitted that he'd had this coming, but he was still excited to know exactly what plan his mate had for him, although it was obvious he was supposed to play the submissive slave to the stronger wolf tonight, considering the handcuffs. At least the handcuffs were padded and so they shouldn't be able to rub his wrist raw, at least not too severely, which he appreciated. However, the padded handcuffs told him that they had been picked up at one of those sex shops that sold such items and Spencer wondered where Aaron had found the time to do such a thing considering they were almost always together.

"Good! Begin!" Hotch ordered gruffly and watched with great pleasure as Spencer began to fondle his own balls and then his cock running his free hand up and down his long thick cock, although it certainly wasn't as long or as thick as his, but still a nice size. Then again Spencer wasn't an Alpha and he was, which had a lot do with it he knew as did body size. He was big and bulky while Spencer was much slenderer and therefore, the size of their cocks usually matched body type, although not always.

"Rub your balls and sac some more, fondle them," Hotch ordered gruffly, enjoying watching Spencer obey hus commands.

Spencer did as ordered and started rolling his balls in his free hand, trying his best not to make a sound for this was a new game and he didn't know if he was allowed to do what he normally did.

"I want to hear you whimper, cry, moan and groan. I want to hear you enjoy fondling yourself," Hotch ordered realizing that Spencer was holding back the sounds he normally made, because his mate wasn't sure if he was allowed to make any noise and so he was trying his best not to.

With his mate's words, Spencer let out a long low groan of pleasure and then begin to whimper almost plaintively, as he continued to fondle his balls and sac as he had been ordered to do.

"Your cock needs some more attention," Hotch ordered with a leer and Spencer immediately switched from fondling his balls to running his hand up and down his cock, using a finger to rub the tip and move the little piece of flesh aside as unlike some boys he had never been circumcised.

Hotch watched as Spencer followed his instructions to the letter and listened to the little whimpers and purrs of pleasure he was making and could also feel the same in the emotions that were intensely coursing through him. Hotch knew that Spencer wouldn't be able to hold back his climax much longer as his cock was already engorged, cum dripping out of the tip, steadily and onto Spencer's stomach, despite his mate's best effects to prevent it.

Hotch wasn't exactly sure how much longer he could last himself as his cock had become even more engorged than it had been in the car and just from watching his mate fondle himself as ordered, which really turned him on more than he thought it would. He knew the two of them would be playing this game again at some point as he could tell that Spencer was really enjoying this new game as well. So long as they both enjoyed it and his lover didn't object then they would indeed be trying this again, although he would never force his mate to do something in the realm of sex that he didn't like so long as he agreed to try it at least once.

They would definitely have to try this again at some point, since he was immensely enjoying just watching his Spencer fondle himself, Hotch mused to himself.

"Are you enjoying fondling yourself?" Hotch asked Spencer. "You are allowed to answer the question and you will not be punished for doing so."

"Yes," Spencer whimpered his voice hoarse as he tried his best to hold back his climax which he could feel was extremely close. "Having you watching is making my feelings even more intense and therefore, it's also making my reactions more intense as well."

Hotch smirked in satisfaction and approached the bed slowly as if he was stalking a prey and suddenly made a leap and landed on top of his mate with his full weight, causing Spencer to groan more in surprise then alarm or because he was hurt as Hotch's weight was suddenly on top of him.

"You are not allowed to come yet," Hotch ordered gruffly. "You are still being punished for your teasing. Nod if you, understand!"

Spencer frantically nodded and knew that he couldn't hold back his climax much longer and all he had done was fondled his own balls and cock, but with Aaron watching it had made his reactions much more intense just as he had told his mate a minute ago.

"Good! Make sure you don't! Or you will be punished!" Hotch growled.

Spencer whimpered, as he frantically tried to get himself free from the handcuffs because his cock was becoming so engorged that it was extremely painful. His cock felt as if it was ready to explode and he needed to make sure it didn't come as he knew he would be punished if he came before his Alpha ordered it.

Hotch watched this with a little pleased smile on his lips and then moved himself down his mate's body just enough to where he was able to get his mouth on Spencer's cock and begin sucking on it, just as his lover had done to him many times before over the years.

Spencer let out a long low whimper and again frantically tried to get free of the handcuffs as what Aaron was doing to him was driving him insane with lust and desire and he knew he needed some sort of leverage and at the moment he couldn't do anything as his mate was pinning his one free hand down so he couldn't move it.

Hotch paid attention to his mate's emotions and knew that he was extremely close to the edge of his climax and that he was holding himself back from coming through sheer force of will, which probably wouldn't last much longer. Hotch was actually amazed that Spencer hadn't come yet as it had been almost an hour since they had began and that showed that he had a very strong and stubborn will and could prevent himself from coming for a long time. It couldn't be very pleasant as he knew that Spencer was in incredible pain because of his extremely engorged penis that came with holding back his climax for so long.

"Come! Now!" Hotch ordered and instantly reattached his mouth to the end of Spencer's cock.

Spencer immediately gave a gasp, his eyes rolled back in his head until only the whites showed and instantly a great spurt of seed erupted from his cock and straight into Hotch's mouth where he swallowed convulsively until Spencer's cock was empty and completely flaccid, although he was well aware that it wouldn't take much to make his mate hard again.

Hotch for his part also released his very engorged cock, but all over his mate's stomach and the bedsheets. Hotch's cock was still spurting even after Spencer's was completely empty and it was at least five minutes later and after more than a dozen long spurts of seed that it was finally empty.

"Have you learned your lesson?" asked Hotch. "You are allowed to answer the question. Your punishment is at an end, so long as the lesson has been learned."  
"Yes," Spencer answered even as he lay on the pillow panting heavily. "I have learned my lesson."

"Very well then," Hotch said satisfied. "I will remove the handcuff."

Both men knew inwardly, although it was never admitted out loud, that they both would be doing this again, as this was just a dominant/submissive game between them that both enjoyed occasionally, as it kept their sex life fresh.

Hotch got the key to the handcuff out of the same bedside table drawer that they had been taken from and unlocked the one around Spencer's wrist, before undoing the one around the bedpost.

"That… That..." Spencer began trying his best to talk even though his voice was heavily laced with exhaustion, "that was the most intense experience to date. Our sex life has always been more than satisfactory, but I don't believe I kept myself from coming for so long and I'm still not sure how I actually did it."

"You're inner Omega was not about to disobey his Alpha's command," Hotch explained, even as he lifted himself off his mate and moved onto his side of the bed. "An Alpha's command must always be obeyed unless of course, they're asking you to do something that goes against your conscious, like something illegal. You know it's possible to resist an Alpha's command if you have a strong enough will to do so, however, what we were doing was really just play and there was nothing dangerous or illegal in it, so therefore, your inner Omega wasn't about to resist, because he knew that I would never hurt you."

Spencer thought about this then nodded in agreement. "Next time you want to punish me go right ahead as that was the most intense, painful and pleasurable experience of my life and I've had some earthshattering climaxes before, but never one that lasted so long or was quite so intense. I'm actually surprised that I managed to remain conscious as I have been known to faint before from the intense earthshattering climaxes that I've had a few times."

"I know you're tired, but we're not done, yet," Hotch said feeling rejuvenated and not at all tired, although he realized that was part due to the adrenaline that was even now racing through his bloodstream. "I have plans for tonight and although we'll be able to rest in between sessions trust me, we'll be making love all night as the wolf in me is far from satisfied and is feeling very frisky."

Spencer groaned more in anticipation then fear of what was to come as he was actually looking forward to it, although he did still feel rather exhausted from the last session due to his rather intense climax and having to hold it back for so long.

"I know I'll enjoy it," Spencer replied after a few minutes of silence. "I always do and I don't expect this time to be any different, but I know I'm going to be sleeping in tomorrow, so let's hope we don't get any calls, because at the moment I feel like I have no energy to move."

"Oh, you'll be moving soon enough," Hotch smirked. "I know I'll be joining you in sleeping in tomorrow, however, you know what comes after each session and I'll enjoy doing it just like I always do."

Spencer did know and he had come to enjoy the fact when his Alpha took care of him, even though at first he had wanted to protest until his inner Omega had convinced him not to. Not anymore though, as he truly enjoyed it when Aaron bathed him, washing him gently from head to toe, and his mate picked then him up and placed him back on his side of the bed covering him up with the sheet. He knew afterwards, Aaron would wake him up from where he was sleeping deeply from exhaustion and gently coax him into eating whatever he had fixed, although it was usually soup and also a large glass of water to deal with the dehydration.

Afterwards, he would be allowed to return to sleep and do so for as long as he liked and that Aaron would join him in bed also exhausted. Spencer now knew that it was an Alpha's responsibility to look after their submissive partner and it was up to them to prove that they were strong enough to take care of their mate, even when they were just as exhausted. It didn't matter if the Alpha's legs were weak and shaking they had to prove that they were capable of taking care of their submissive partner. It was tradition, more than anything else, although Spencer knew that their inner Alpha would be urging them to take care of their submissive mate before they collapsed from exhaustion and so he supposed that's how the tradition had come about in the first place.

Spencer willingly submitted, as he knew that Aaron would not be dissuaded, especially since his inner wolf was apparently feeling frisky and he would have to be sated before he would be able to get some sleep and so he lay spreadeagled on the bed waiting his mate's attention.

"Good, you're ready for me," Hotch smirked as he observed his mate's actions with a satisfied look. "I'm going to make you scream my name," Hotch added with another smirk.

Spencer didn't respond just laid there on the bed, although he did give his mate a pleading look as his cock was already half hard.

"Let's get started," Hotch murmured silkily, as he positioned himself over his mate's tall, lanky form. "I'm not going to lock you tonight like I had planned, because we're both exhausted. If my wolf wasn't still feeling so frisky we would both be on our way to dreaming of each other in rather compromising positions."

Spencer blushed a bright red at that, as that happened quite often and he woke up with a hard on more often then not, but luckily, Aaron knew how to relieve him of it quickly and make it pleasurable for them both at the same time.

"I'm sure you know until my wolf is satisfied, as there's no way I'll be able to sleep and the only way to do that is, is to make love to you," Hotch finished seeing his mate blush and thinking it was a very endearing quality, one he hoped that his mate never lost as he got older and gained more experience.

"I know," Spencer said in a voice that wasn't quite so exhausted as he'd had a chance to recover from what Aaron had done to him earlier. "Go right ahead, for I am yours to do with as you please and I know very well until your wolf isn't feeling so frisky you won't be able to sleep. If the only way to accomplish that is for us to make love then I am more than willing tired or not, since I know I can sleep in tomorrow so long as we don't get called in. Besides, I love everything you do to me, whether it's roughly or gently or everything in-between, so I'm not about to complain if your inner wolf is feeling frisky."

"Good," Hotch said extremely pleased. He then begin to make slow and gentle love to the man he adored beyond all the heavens, so that by the time they'd had half a dozen climaxes apiece, the wolf in Hotch was more then satisfied and completely sated and both men were totally exhausted, so fell asleep in each other's arms.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**


	24. Chapter 24

Part 24

The two men slept extremely late the next morning, but considering how exhausted they had been due to their sexual activity the night before that wasn't surprising. By the time they rose it was nearing noon.

"I never used to sleep this late," Spencer groaned, as his bladder finally insisted that he get up and use the restroom. "Of course, I was never as sexually active as I am now either, in fact I wasn't sexually active at all until I met you," Spencer told his mate who smirked, as he had been well aware of the fact that his mate had been a virgin before the two of them had met, although certainly not anymore. "Now if you don't mind I really need to go empty my bladder."

"And if I do?" Hotch asked teasingly.

"Then I will probably eventually go on the mattress as I can only hold it for so long after all," Spencer teased right back, "so unless you want that to occur I suggest you let me use the toilet."

Hotch actually laughed at his mate's comeback, but finally released his hold on his lover so that he could go and use the bathroom. "I suppose we need to get up anyway."

"We do, as we can't stay in bed all day as much as we might like to," Spencer answered with a smile hurrying to the bathroom in order to relieve his very full bladder, Hotch also rising in order to do the same, before he got dressed in casual clothes, jeans and a t-shirt, unlike the suits he usually wore to work. It wasn't very often that he could dress so casually, mostly on weekends, so he took the opportunity when he could.

"So what are our plans for the day since we have it all to ourselves?" asked Spencer.

"Well, with the older pups on a school trip, we should probably spend sometime with the younger four and then I need to contact the Delacroixs, since I haven't done that yet," said Hotch.

"Alright," Spencer agreed after a moment, "while you're doing that I'll look up the appropriate type doctor and make a list and then have Garcia do a background check on them. There's no way we can keep this from the team anyway, as they would find out about it eventually and be rightfully upset that we didn't tell them that we went through the IVF precess so we might as well be honest from the start. We've never hidden the fact that we wanted children of our own, ones that have both our genes, so they shouldn't be too surprised."

"We've already astonished them with the fact that we have 12 already, so I believe that they'll take the fact that we want some of our own blood, in stride," Hotch said with a smirk, as he thought about the teams initial reactions to the news that the two of them were thinking about using the IVF process to have children of their own. "It's pretty unusual in a human family to have so many children especially ones that are all the same age. I know it happens that way sometimes, but it's extremely rare, although not so much in werewolf families as you know."

"There's probably not more then maybe 150 to 200 sets of octuplets of varying ages in the world today and that number would be much lower if not for the fact that werewolves have multiple births all the time, because it is extremely rare for someone completely human to have that many as there are a number of factors involved in it happening. You know they might've been pregnancies that started out with that many, but if it was more than say 20-25 years ago the chances of more than one or two surviving, if any, were nearly nil, because humans just didn't have the technology in order to help that many infants survive and live full lives. They were often stillborn and the ones that weren't died within a few days. Even now, with technology so advanced it's still a rather risky thing to be pregnant with that many infants as the pregnancy is hard on both mother and babies. I know werewolf babies tend to be pretty hardy, but I'll be very surprised if a woman had that many if they all survived as even our kind need to be in the hospital and have a c-section done and not try to give birth naturally as that would be suicidal with that many fetuses. There is a record of c-sections as far back as in the time of Julius Caesar but they didn't really become common until the late 1980s, where 24% of women had c-sections and not just with twins or more, but with just a singleton. Often the doctor will offer to reduce the number of fetuses, if there is six or seven or more."

"Which no werewolf would ever accept unless there are extenuating circumstances as having pups are extremely important to our race and the only way I could see a female wolf accepting a reduction of fetuses is if it puts her other pups in danger or risks her life," Hotch interrupted his mate's discourse. "Now back decades ago yes, it was quite common, but nowadays, with c-sections being such a common practice, especially with multiple births and the fact that it helps save the life of the babies and the wolf female carrying them, reduction is not normally an option. I'm not saying that there haven't been some deaths, but mostly it's a safe, secure option to allow mother and pups to come through this experience in good health. Besides, twins and triplets are practically commonplace nowadays even for humans, so if one of our kind is having that many there are normally no problems unless there is some kind of prior medical condition."

"Or the surgeon in question makes a mistake," Spencer suggested playing devil's advocate.

"Well, yes, that too," Hotch admitted, "as they are only human after all and humans can make mistakes, especially if they are tired."

"Have you talked to your sister Arissa yet?" asked Spencer.

"I did," Hotch said, "and she agreed to have some of her eggs extracted so that we could use them. She agreed, even before I told her that we will going to make the godmother. She said that she'll come to Virginia anytime we like as she has plenty of time off saved and plenty of money to fly out here, so it isn't going to cause her any financial difficulties."

"Well, that is one hurdle out of the way," Spencer said pleased. "You know I've never met your sister Arissa before and I'll be happy to finally get a chance to get to know her little since you talk about her all the time."

"Yeah, I did since I don't see most of my siblings very much," Hotch said with the melancholy sigh. "That's really one of the disadvantages of growing up and then moving to different parts of the country. We used to be so close when we were pups as we had each other when we needed someone just to talk to or to comfort us when we were younger as our parents were either distant or cruel and never did what any normal parent would do when one of their children needed advice or just a hug."

"We all do the best we can," Spencer said philosophically, "as I don't see my two brothers very much either, although I admit I see Dylan more often than Trev just because he lives in the area. Children get out on there own and although they still keep in contact through phone calls and emails a lot of times they don't actually see their family very often."

"We could take time off more often," Hotch suggested. "Cruz would more than understand certainly more then Strauss ever did."

"That would leave the team shorthanded, so we'd have to make sure that one of the others wasn't taking a vacation at the same time unless it was the whole team, but it's doable. Personally, I think we're all workaholics and sometimes we need time to recharge after a particularly tough case just because we don't normally take time off doesn't mean we can't."

"Well, that's something to talk about at a later date," Hotch said, kissing his mate on the forehead tenderly. "For now though we need to make arrangements if we're going to go through the IVF process."

"Yes, sir," Spencer told his mate giving him a snap salute like he was in the military causing Hotch chuckle in amusement. "Look up doctors and get out here," Hotch ordered in an amused tone of voice.

"Yes, sir," Spencer said giving his mate another mock military salute before he headed downstairs to start up his laptop.

Hotch just watched his mate go with an amused look on his face before he to started doing what he said and that was picking up his cellphone and call Thierry and Anastasia.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

One month later

"Thanks, for doing this Arissa, Spencer and I really appreciate it," Hotch told his sister.

"You're quite welcome, big brother," Arissa told Hotch kissing his cheek. "I owe you for looking after me when I was younger."

"You don't owe me anything, it's a brother's responsibility to look after their siblings, sisters in particular," Hotch told Arissa returning the hug and kiss.

"Actually, it's the parents responsibility," Arissa corrected. "I'm not saying that being my big brother doesn't play an important role in his siblings lives, but it's the parents who had responsibility even if they had no interest in doing so, not in any real sense anyway. You were more of a parent to us then our mother and father."

"Maybe," Hotch conceded, as he kissed his sister on forehead. "Still, you don't really owe me anything. Spencer and I are grateful all the same that you're willing to do this."

"You deserve to be happy," Arissa told her brother. "You out of all our siblings looked after us younger ones and took the responsibility that our parents should have, so this is just my way of paying you back for all you did while we were growing up."

"Alright," Hotch conceded, "I'm not can argue with you, as I know how useless that is."

Arissa laughed and stuck our her tongue at her brother.

"I'm going to be with you the whole time," Hotch informed her, as the two of them sat in the waiting room waiting to be called.

"Why?" asked Arissa. "I can handle it."

"I know you can," Hotch told her. "It's precaution that's all."

"What do you mean?" asked Arissa curiously.

"Well, we can't afford to let any of your eggs that are extracted, not be used, which is why I arranged to be here to make sure that no extra are taken, even though I know it's very possible that not all of them will catch. We can't afford some unscrupulous doctor taking one of your eggs and making a fortune for donating it to an egg bank, since our species must remain a secret," Hotch explained quietly. "When Spencer and I decided on this option instead of just choosing some random woman eggs, we knew that we would have to be extremely careful and one of us would need to watch the extraction carefully. There are a lot of unscrupulous people out there doctors included that would see nothing wrong with stealing some woman's eggs and selling them to an egg bank or to some woman who was desperate to have children to make a lot of money. While Spencer and I had our technical analyst at the BAU Penelope Garcia do a thorough background check on the doctors that we found before we chose one that doesn't mean a technician or a nurse can't do it."

"Must you always be so suspicious?" Arissa asked him rhetorically.

"When it comes to this kind of thing, absolutely," Hotch told her quietly. "If there is one thing I've learned in my job is that there's a lot of dishonest people in the world and a lot of them will do absolutely anything to make money, so I'm not taking any chances. If you were just a regular woman without being a werewolf, then it wouldn't matter so much if they did something like that, but since you are, it does and that's just the way it has to be."

"I can see what you mean," Arissa said thoughtfully, "although I never thought about it quite like that. I know we are told not to donate our eggs or in the men's case their sperm and they explained to us why, but you make it somehow more real."

"Well, good, because you always need to be careful, since as I said they're a lot of dishonest and dangerous people in the world and you could be bilked of a great deal of your money if you're not careful or even murdered or mugged, or any number of other horrible crimes."

Hotch didn't mention rape as that would have upset his sister and he needed her to keep calm at the moment, besides, it was irrelevant anyway.

"People who go through life unaware that that type of thing can happen are often the victims of various kinds of crimes," Hotch said. "Unfortunately, a lot of times teenagers or children are often the victims."

"You stood over a lot of crime scenes that had teenagers and children dead?" asked of Arissa looking upset.

"More than I care to remember," Hotch said a little shortly, as it was a very sensitive subject for him.

"So has Spencer given a sample of his sperm, already?" asked Arissa.

"No, he's going to be in tomorrow to do that," Hotch explained. "One of the reasons we chose this particular hospital in order to do the IVF process is the security is topnotch and has a reputation for honesty. There's really no way for someone to get one of your eggs or Spencer's sperm once they are in the hospital freezer until they are ready to be used, not without being caught anyway as there are cameras everywhere. I know the staff are vetted by the hospital, but they don't go to deeply when they do background checks and I couldn't have Garcia spend all her time vetting every single employee as it would've taken her couple of days and she was using BAU time and their resources to do it. Your eggs and Spencer's sperm have to spend a few days in a petrie dish before they can be inserted into Anastasia's uterus and I had Garcia check on security and there's plenty of cameras in the lab where the petrie dishes are kept, so there's really no way to take something as they stay on 24 hours a day. This facility takes the protection of it's customers privacy, very seriously and there has never been a theft from here."

"Wow! You've thought of everything," Arissa said admiringly.

"I hope, so because this could go very wrong if the worse should happen," Hotch said, "and Spencer and I had to discuss it quite seriously and figure out if the risks were worth it before we decided to do it this way."

"Aren't you worried about Spencer's sperm being stolen?" asked Arissa quietly, but with curiosity in her tone.

"No," Hotch said just as quietly shaking his head. "Men have it a lot easier when it comes to giving samples of sperm as all they have to do is pee in a cup while women have to go through an operation in order to get her reproductive eggs for a procedure like IVF."

"Well, yes, that's true," Arissa admitted.

The two of them continued to casually chat very quietly, keeping their voices down for a few minutes when Arissa's name was called and she immediately got up and headed towards the nurse that stood in the doorway Hotch at her side.

The nurse led the two of them into the exam room and didn't comment on Hotch's presence probably just figuring that they were husband and wife instead of brother and sister.

"The doctor will be with you shortly," the nurse told the pair

"Thank you," Arissa told the nurse politely.

"You're welcome," the nurse said with a smile.

The nurse left and Arissa sat down on the edge of the examination bed, while Hotch took one of the uncomfortable chairs.

"So I've heard a lot about this Spencer, but I've never met him," Arissa commented after a few minutes of silence.

"You can meet him after this is done as he's going to meet us for lunch," Hotch said with a smile, "but to answer your question, he really is one of the kindest people I've ever met and I'm not just saying that because I love him as you'll see what I mean for yourself during lunch. He's brilliant, a certified genius as I've told you over the phone. He has his faults, but then we all do, but one of his most endearing qualities is he has more patience than anybody I've ever met. He hardly ever loses his temper, although it has been known to happen usually at Morgan who tends to try everybody's patience occasionally. He can handle stress better than most people, but occasionally, depending on the situation he can lose it, although he always only vents to me and since I understand why it's happening I don't correct him most of the time."

Arissa knew very well what her brother meant by correcting Spencer, because since Aaron was an Alpha male it was his job to correct his submissive partner's behavior if he did something wrong, but the two of them were also partners in marriage and Lifemates, so therefore, neither could harm the other in any deliberating way. The lesson taught would still likely would be painful, just not permanently harmful depending on the severity of the offense. Arissa knew that Spencer was an Omega, and therefore, the wolf in him would expect to be punished if he did something his Alpha disapproved of, but that wouldn't stop Spencer from loving Aaron afterwards as he would know that he deserved the correction and he would be sure not to commit that particular offense again.

"Actually I'd rather Spencer lose it at me then I would at some cop who is being particularly obnoxious or a witness, or unsub," Hotch said then added with a shrug, "I have my own faults, so I put up with it, especially since it only happens very rarely and it's almost never truly directed at me. He really does have monumental amount of patience and it takes a lot to get him to lose it. It depends on his stress level really as the more stressful situation is the more likely he is to want to vent. I'm not going to stop loving him, just because I need to correct his behavior occasionally as none of us are perfect after all and I make sure Spencer knows that I still love him, even after I've had to punish him for something. He knows once he's been corrected for something not to do it again and I don't hold a grudge. It's immediately forgotten about and that's the way it should be. When he goes off on Morgan it's usually been quite amusing how he get's his revenge for some practical joke," Hotch admitted with a chuckle.

"I thought you said he didn't vent at anyone else," Arissa questioned.

"Morgan's different," Hotch explained calmly. "He's almost like a brother to Spencer and he works with us. Spencer had to prove that he wasn't a pushover, because Morgan is like me he's an Alpha male and extremely overprotective. On the team though, since he's below me in rank he's considered a Beta as you know, but outside the work arena he's definitely an Alpha male and a very strong one at that. He objected to our relationship you know if only because he had come to think of Spencer as a little brother, one who needed protection, but we finally got that straightened out, but it took a lot of work to get him to understand that Reid had a right to make his own choices."

"You know, in the beginning I had to keep assuring Spencer that I still loved him, even when I had to correct his behavior," Hotch added.

"Why?" asked Arissa in surprise. "I would think he would have known that without needing that reassurance."

"I'll tell you, but you have to promise never to repeat it to anyone, even our own family is that understood?" Hotch demanded intensely.

"You know I won't," Arissa promised not at all offended for this was privileged information and she knew that.

"I do or I never would have mentioned it," Hotch said. "I just wanted to make sure you understood that this was not to be repeated. Spencer and his two brothers Dylan and Trevyn weren't raised in a pack," Hotch began quietly making sure to keep his voice down, because even though there wasn't supposed to be cameras in the private patient rooms, you never knew so it was just better to be cautious.

"What do you mean he wasn't raised in a pack?" Arissa demanded, as quietly and calmly as possible, although she was inwardly outraged.

So Hotch told his sister about how Spencer had to raise himself and what he and his two brothers had to do in order to survive.

"That's outrageous," Arissa said angrily. "I hope you've taken care of the problem."

"It is and I have," Hotch assured his sister smirking in satisfaction. "I'll give you the whole story later, but now is not the time at the doctor will likely be here any minute. In any case, even though Spencer knew he was different, he knew nothing about a pack's traditions, their history or their laws, because his father or the pack Alpha taught him nothing or his brothers either. I'm still amazed that the three of them managed to not only survive, but remain as kind and honest as they are, even though they had to steal in order to survive for something like 6 years. I don't blame them for what they had to do in order to get food in their bellies and clothes on their backs, even though you know normally, I'm a stickler for the law. However, their situation was different as they couldn't afford to go into a foster home or be separated because we know what would have likely happened if that had occurred. If all three of them hadn't been so intelligent, even at such a young age the odds of them surviving would have dropped to less then 10%. I still can't believe that their own father would do that to his own pups or that the Alpha would allow it to happen or at least not take them into the pack. I know that occasionally a werewolf goes bad just like humans do on a regular basis, but for there to be 2 in the same pack, especially at the same time that's almost unheard of," Hotch said shaking his head. "He didn't trust the wolf part of him and what it was telling him about how he was forgiven for his transgression and so for the first year or so he had to be reassured that he was forgiven when he did something wrong and in the last few years I've taught him a lot about what he should've learned as a pup that his father or the pack didn't teach him. Also, for the first few weeks his human half didn't trust me, even if the wolf part of him did and I can't really blame him for that considering his upbringing or lack thereof."

"Yes, I can see that," Arissa said slowly. "The wolf part of him would have been urging his human part to trust you, but it took awhile to build that trust."

"It didn't really take all that long just a few weeks really and believe me, I was really surprised at first that it didn't take me months to gain the trust of his human half, but I suppose part of it has to do with the fact that he's intelligent and observant or otherwise he wouldn't be part of the BAU. You need to be both and he knew that he could trust me so soon, because he observed me and picked up on the subtle clues that a body gives off that most people miss and observed my actions. Once he realized, that I wasn't lying to him and that his wolf in this case knew better than the human part of him he truly begin to trust me, although he did warn me in the beginning that if I betrayed him I would never get that trust back again. By this point in time, we've been together for so long he knows that I'll never betray him in anyway as that would destroy me as well as him."

"I'm surprised you didn't take offense at what he said," Arissa said.

"I didn't take offense, because I knew that he had no idea what a werewolf's Lifemate was and that betrayal was impossible," Hotch explained. "Things that we learned as pups were never explained to him or his brothers and therefore, he didn't know that his words would normally have deeply offended me, but since I realized the reason behind them I took it all in stride."

"Yes, I see how that could make a difference," Arissa agreed thoughtfully.

Hotch didn't have a chance to reply as there was a knock on the door and then it open and the doctor came into the small examination room.

"Sorry, you had to wait so long, It's been extremely busy the last few days," Dr. Whiteheart said.

"It's fine, Doctor Whiteheart," Arissa assured him with a dazzling smile.

"Why don't we get started?" Dr, Whiteheart suggested and Arissa nodded more then ready to get the operation over with, even though she knew with a werewolf's recuperative powers that she wouldn't be sore for more than a few hours and the incision would disappear quickly as well.

"Now I'm going to ask you some necessary questions before we can get to the procedure," Dr. Whiteheart began.

"Go right ahead," Arissa said having been expecting this.

"Very well then," Dr. Whiteheart said and began to question the very beautiful young woman about her general state of health and what kind of diseases ran in her family and several other questions.

Finally Dr. Whiteheart was satisfied half an hour later and agreed to go ahead with the procedure. "So how many eggs do you want extracted Mrs. Hotchner?"

"Four," Arissa answered. "They will all be inserted into a surrogate that has already been selected and has agreed to have this done and it is hoped that they all catch and turn into fetuses."

Dr. Whiteheart nodded, and said, "Well, four is the limit of what we are legally allowed to insert into a woman's uterus anyway, so that's just as well."

"Will you be the one donating the sperm?" Dr. Whiteheart asked the tall handsome man.

"No, I'm her brother," Hotch replied. "Aaron Hotchner at your service. Arissa wanted me here for legal purposes since I am an attorney, just in case there were any legal issues to be dealt with and while this isn't my area of expertise I did my research to prepare, so I could answer any questions she might have. Spencer Reid has an appointment tomorrow and will be doing the sperm donation."

Actually Spencer had told him all he would ever need to know about legal issues for the IVF process, so Hotch felt he was well prepared.

"Oh, I'm sorry for my mistake, I see the resemblance between you now," Dr, Whiteheart apologized looking embarrassed.

"It's fine, an honest mistake," Hotch promised and Arissa just smiled.

"Let's get started," Dr. Whiteheart said leading them out of the examination room.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

A week later

"Well, it's done and all that's left is to keep a close eye on Anastasia for the next few weeks, and then she'll have another appointment to see if she is indeed pregnant, after that she'll have appointments at least every month and then probably every couple of weeks if all four embryos did indeed catch," Spencer said, excitedly.

"We'll just have to see," Hotch said also excited, as he could hardly wait to see if the four embryos that had been implanted into Anastasia had indeed caught. He couldn't wait to have a little version of him and Spencer or see if they looked more like him or his mate or a combination of both of them.

"You're just as excited as I am," Spencer said, as he felt his mate's emotions surge with excitement and happiness. It was a rather unusual to get Aaron Hotchner this excited, as he was usually a pretty controlled individual.

"I am," Hotch admitted. "A little version of you is pretty exciting to me since pups are so important to our race as you know. Those by your Lifemate are even more so, so even if we couldn't have them the normal way since we're both male it's still an exciting event, for someone like me who was raised to consider pups a gift, by the Alpha of my childhood pack in my case not by my parents. Besides, the Alpha Wolf in me is pretty excited about the birth of his pups and is pacing back and forth, even though it'll be months before they're actually born. Even if only two of the embryos catch that will be enough for me, although I'm really hoping all of the embryos turn into fetuses."

"Me too," Spencer admitted, "My wolf is also excited about the birth of its pups just as yours is and is literally drooling out of the corner of his mouth. I just hope that my wolf calms down soon as it's going to be very hard to concentrate with my stomach squirming in anticipation for an event that's months away."

"Oh, it will," Hotch promised with a lecherous smirk. "There are ways to compensate for that excitement after all."

Spencer knew what Aaron meant immediately and asked not at all upset, "Is that all you ever think about?"

"When it comes to you and when we're alone? Absolutely," Hotch replied immediately. "I try not to think of you in that way while we are working or out in public, but it's not exactly an easy task, since that's all my wolf wants to think about and it's hard to turn his attention to something else."

"I agree, it's not exactly easy task to keep my thoughts relatively pure in that area, although it has gotten a little easier in the last couple of years," Spencer admitted.

"Yes, it has," Hotch agreed immediately. "It's no longer as difficult to concentrate as it once was when the bond was still new. However, when we are alone like at home I don't bother to try to divert my thoughts from thinking of you in a sexual manner. If you knew all the scenarios that were going through my head right now, well...I guarantee you would be blushing as bright red as was possible."

"I probably would be," Spencer admitted a little sheepishly. "It's not like I'm unaware of the scenarios that run through your head about me I just don't acknowledge that I know very often. I'm surprised that you still have so many untried scenarios considering that we spend a lot of our free time in bed and make love for hours and have been doing so for years."

"I have a very vivid imagination when it comes to stuff like that," Hotch admitted with a nonchalant shrug and a smirk. "Some of the stuff I dream of doing to you would probably be illegal in some states."

Spencer did blush at Aaron's last comment and also the rather wide lecherous smirk that accompanied it.

"So to change the subject back to what we were originally talking about, Anastasia should go into labor at about 7 1/2 to 8 months, as multiples are always notoriously early as I'm sure you are aware," Spencer said his blush fading.

Hotch smirked because he knew exactly why his mate had changed the subject, but he didn't object."

"Oh, yes, I know," Hotch said. "I remember how my mother went into labor way earlier than she should have at seven months on a few occasions but luckily, we only lost three of my siblings during that time as when me and my siblings were born and there was no way to stop labor like there is today unless a female's water has broken. I know that the longer a female can carry her pups in her belly, especially with multiples, the healthier they will be when they're born. Of course, when pups want to be born they want to be born and there is nothing anybody can do to prevent it."

"And sometimes that ends in tragedy," Spencer said, "although not so much in this day and age as back when you were born, but still babies are stillborn every day even singletons."

"Well, we're both going to pray that all babies are born healthy whether that's just a singleton, twins or all four," Hotch said with a determined glint in his eyes and Spencer nodded in wholehearted agreement.

"Definitely," Spencer agreed, "and you forgot to add in the possibility of one or more of the eggs splitting, so it's possible we'll get five or six or even seven or eight, although more than five possibly six is unlikely, but still a possibility."

"Unless something drastic happens I don't think we need to worry, since werewolf pups tend to be hardy, but still it won't hurt to think good thoughts," Hotch said, "and by the way, you're right, I hadn't considered that possibility, although I knew it was possible. So it's possible we can get up to eight babies, although I think that scenario unlikely even if it is very possible, just as you do."

"Yes, it isn't very likely, I admit, but you never know," Spencer agreed for the second time.

"No, you don't, at least not about something like this," Hotch agreed.

"So when are we going to let the team know about the fact that we asked actually through with the IVF process?" asked Spencer.

"I recommend that we wait awhile, at least until we know if it will work, so at least a couple of months," Hotch said and Spencer nodded in agreement.

"The team is probably going to think we're crazy, for going through with it considering we already have a dozen pups and we can't exactly tell them the reason we did it," Spencer said.

"Probably," Hotch said with a shrug, "but I really don't care, let them think what they want and we know that it will likely be Morgan in particular that thinks that, while Garcia, JJ and Emily will likely go gaga over our pups once they're born, since they all love babies and Rossi will keep his opinions to himself. As long as they don't question us to much on why we did it I don't really care as our private lives are our own."

"Yes, that's true," Spencer agreed. "Our female teammates do love babies as ought to be obvious as much as they spoil the 12 we have."

"Enough talk about Anastasia's pregnancy for now as we still have months to go before our pups get here," Hotch said gruffly lust and need beginning to glimmer in his dark brown eyes. "It's time for us to go to bed."

Spencer knew that when his mate used that tone of voice he didn't dare disobey and they wouldn't be going to sleep anytime soon if Aaron had his way.

Still, even knowing what was going to be happening in a few minutes Spencer obeyed his Alpha's command and rose from where he was sitting on the couch and headed directly for the stairs.

Hotch smirked in satisfaction as he watched his mate skedaddle towards the stairs and followed immediately afterwards.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**


	25. Chapter 25

Part 25

"What?" Spencer spluttered in shock, as Hotch told him what Thierry had told him when he had called just a few minutes ago, while Spencer had been in the bathroom. "Are you telling me that two of the embryos split, so that we are going to get two sets of identical twins and to top it off all four of the original embryos caught, so Anastasia is now carrying six fetuses instead of the four we were expecting."

"Yes," Hotch said calmly, although inside he was smiling not only at his mate's shock, but his wolf was also prancing around in excitement at the thought of getting six pups instead of four. "You did say it was possible for this to happen," Hotch pointed out.

"Well, yes, I did," Spencer admitted. "However, even though I knew it was a possibility, I never truly expected it to happen, but I didn't consider the fact that my father was an identical twin or that he never had any identical twins himself, which meant that it was likely that at least one of his children would have them, even though I know there is supposedly no medical or scientific reason for them or any evidence that they do run in family lines. They are supposed to be a totally random event."

"And yet they seem to run in your family line, along with the more normal fraternal ones," Hotch smirked.

"So they do," Spencer admitted. "I thought it was a possibility that maybe one of the embryos would split so that we would get five, but to have two of them do it...well the possibility was so minuscule that I didn't bother to calculate it."

"And yet it happened," Hotch smiled, a true smile instead of his usual smirk and took his mate into his arms holding him close and kissing the top of his head reverently. "Soon, in just a matter of months, we are going to have six werewolf pups that are ours in every way it is possible for them to be for they will be a product of our love and share both our genetic materials, even if I had to use my sister's Arissa's eggs for my part of it since I am male and not female."

"I can't believe that we will soon have six children of our very own and as much as I love the dozen we have, there is just something special about these six that isn't true for the others."

"They're special, because they are ours," Hotch said. "We love our half siblings that we both adopted as they are our pups now, but we are going to have some that share both our DNAs and that is somehow even better and more special."

"It is indeed," Spencer agreed immediately. "I'm just glad when you told all the children that they didn't resent the fact that there would soon be even more children that are going to take away even more of their parents time. I expected tantrums from some of the older ones at least."

"They know that we will still love them and spend as much time with them as we can," Hotch said. "Besides, werewolf pups usually mature pretty fast as they have responsibility drummed into them at an early age. Also, our newest additions will be spending a great deal of their time with the nanny we are going to hire to look after them as Lisa and Maddy have enough to do and aren't getting any younger," Hotch said seriously.

"You know I can't wait to see Morgan's face when we tell the team what we did and you know that he and the others are probably going to demand why we didn't tell them in advance. If Morgan does actually ask me that I'm going to tell him I didn't feel like putting up with him nagging me not to do it, because the two of us already have a dozen children between us. Now it's done and there's no reversing it."

"JJ, Emily and Garcia will be happy for us though," Hotch said, "and Rossi will be to and likely won't think we are crazy for doing this since a lot of Italian families tend to be larger then is average anyway and Dave's is no exception as he has over a dozen siblings."

Spencer whistled appreciatively at that. "For a human to have that many and not die from the births, especially that long ago is pretty amazing since I'm assuming that it was all a single baby each time and not multiples that werewolves have normally."

"As far as I know that is correct," Hotch said.

"It's really just as well, that it was likely all singletons back when Rossi was born as technology was a lot more primitive back then and the mothers of twins often died giving birth to them. While that can still happen it is a lot rarer, then so long ago, since medical technology has improved by leaps and bounds in the five or six decades since Rossi was born," Spencer said. "Things can and do still go wrong, like some kind of preexisting medical condition that hasn't been found before, but for the most part..."

"Most women don't die from giving birth to twins even if they have to have a c-section for one or even both of them," Hotch said and Reid nodded.

"Even triplets are relatively safe as most doctors suggest c-sections, preferably before the woman goes into labor, but since triplets usually always come by the 34 week mark and only a small percentage of women manage to carry them later. A c-section is almost always scheduled for around week 30 or 31 weeks. However, some women insist that they'd rather not have a c-section until they are actually in labor because they want to carry their babies as long as they possibly can. I for one can't blame them for that, because the longer that the babies remain in the mother's womb the better the chances they have of emerging healthy and whole without any problem that can develop, especially with multiple births. I know werewolf pups tend to be hardier then human babies, but the mother still have to take care of herself in order to have them born healthy."

"Yes, but unlike with human pregnancies werewolf pups aren't usually born as early as human multiples are. A werewolf mother for instance can usually carry her pups at least until the 36 or 37 mark even if it's quadruplets or more."

"Hmm! I wonder why that is?" Spencer mused.

"Well, us werewolves are basically just like humans," Hotch explained as Spencer listened intently. "Even if you did a batch of medical tests you won't find anything unusual unless you looked deeply into our DNA, as on the surface anyway our DNA is just like anybody else's. However, a female werewolf's pelvis is stronger than a human one, which is probably why they don't go into labor as early as a human woman can. The pelvic bone can carry more and therefore, all the extra weight of multiple fetuses isn't going to make her water break earlier like a human woman's."

"You know that's really interesting," Spencer mused, as he thought about that. "It's the pelvis that has to support the weight of the fetuses that a woman is carrying and if a werewolf's pelvic bone is stronger than a human females, that means that she can carry her babies for longer, before they are born. You know that makes sense when you think about it, because for werewolves multiple births are the norm, instead of the exception and that's the way it's always been. The pups are usually born healthy from the woman's womb, so I suppose in that way the females are just like normal wolves who have multiple births all the time and come through it unscathed. While for humans, multiples weren't the norm until the very late 20th century, like the 80s and 90s and that was mostly due to reproductive technology, at least until more women started getting pregnant later in life, after 35 and even into their late 40s. I thought you told me awhile back that not much research has been done on werewolves, since you can't let a regular human exam you, at least one that isn't in the know."

"And this is still true," Hotch say. "However, about 80 years ago there was a doctor that knew about us, as he was married to one of our kind and he did some very primitive research into the subject. As you just said medical technology was much more primitive back then and he also had to do his research in secret and so he discovered what he could, with the technology he had and that information is now passed to each werewolf pup at a certain age, but still there are a lot of things we don't know about our kind, simply because we can't reveal ourselves."

"So you're saying that this doctor found out that a female werewolves pelvic bone is stronger which makes sense when you think about it, but that there are still many things that our kind don't know about themselves."

"More or less," Hotch said with a shrug. "We know that our body heat is higher than the normal humans, so high in fact that if one of our kind were ever examined it would seem like they had a fever, even when they didn't. We've theorized over the years that it's our high body heat that allows us to transform painlessly even on the full moon and is also why we don't get sick with colds and any other disease like cancer that has to do with the body. However, werewolves can still die from clogged arteries and the like, because even though we can't get cancer, because it has to do with the body we are still capable of eating stuff that's bad for us, stuff that can cause heart attacks or strokes, or the clogging of a major artery. We are also capable of losing our eyesight, but not until we are elderly, because we are born with excellent vision. We also can live several decades longer then the norm for humans depending on general health and again we believe that's because of our higher than average body heat."

"So you're saying that living to a hundred isn't going to be a problem so long as we're in good health," Spencer said and Hotch nodded.

"Around a 140 or 150 is the norm for our kind, though some die earlier or even later, of course, depending on several different factors, but we can live that long."

"How do you keep this from regular humans, you know your neighbors, coworkers and such?" asked Spencer curiously, "especially for people like us who are in government jobs."

"Well, we retire just like anybody else," Hotch said, "and then we live pretty quietly for the most part. You know how human memory is and how they tend to forget things over time and so long as we don't tell anybody our actual age, once we get past what is normal for a human it's really not that hard so long as we are cautious. Some werewolves travel the world once they retire and therefore, their neighbors as you mentioned don't see them much, others just live their lives quietly. A lot of humans are curious yes, but a lot of them also know how to mind their own business and they might speculate about how that old man should he be dead by now, but they don't actually know how old that man is, just that he looks as old as Methuselah. So long as you don't attract the attention of the police or any other government or civilian agency that can look into your background then most werewolves live to a ripe old age without attracting attention and they are usually buried in the forest without a headstone or a coffin, not always of course, but most of the time. It all depends on what that werewolf wants and if his wishes are carried out."

"Yes, that would work," Spencer mused, as he went over that rapidly in his head, "and humans are living longer all the time now, so if one person lives to 150 or older and anybody notices it might be commented on, but no one would be suspicious just thinking that person is lucky to have such good health at their advanced age and likely put it down as just having good genes."

"Besides, they have plenty of people that live to be over a hundred now and I even heard of a human that lived to be around 122, although I can't think of the name right off hand."

"Jeanne Calment, born in Arles France, on February 21st 1875 died August 4th 1997, she was 122 years old as you said," Spencer supplied.

"Well, I should've known that you would know the details," Hotch said with a slight quirk of his lips, in what Spencer knew was a repressed smile.

Spencer shrugged a little sheepishly, but didn't respond. "Did you know that women tend to live longer than man at least when it comes to humans."

"No, I wasn't aware of that," Hotch said looking genuinely interested.

"Yes, for the most part women just tend to live longer than men, as the oldest living man in this century has only been 116 when he died.

"As if living to 116 is anything to sneeze at," Hotch snorted. "That's extremely old for a human. All our pups will be grown and have lives of their own by the time we are that old and we'll be retired and perhaps, doing some traveling, as we both have plenty of money to do that."

Spencer snorted and said, "I'm still mad at you for putting my name on your accounts without telling me you were going to do it."

"Get over it," Hotch suggested sternly. "It was done years ago and you need to stop being mad about it. We're Lifemates, so it isn't like we're ever going to get a divorce and it was the right thing to do. It's what all Lifemate couples do, whether they ever officially tie the Knot or not. I have plenty of money and I know you're honest to a fault and that you won't spend a big chunk of it without checking with me first."

"I've never used it," Spencer pointed out, "and I don't ever intend to whether my name is on your account or not. You ought to know by now that I'm a simple man with simple taste and I make plenty of money on my own without having to dip into your account."

"It doesn't really matter," Hotch said with a nonchalant shrug. "It's there if you ever do need it and someday you might be grateful that it is or you might not. However, since we officially did tie the Knot, even if I put your name on my account long before that, it was not only the right thing to do, but something couples do all the time as most of them do have a joint checking account."

Spencer blushed, as he thought about the wedding ceremony that he and Hotch had had quietly at the courthouse. That had been a very happy day for him and he knew it had been for Aaron as well for despite the fact that he had told his mate that a commitment ceremony was enough for him he had always dreamed of actually getting married to the man he loved more than anything, although he never actually said so. Aaron had somehow known of his dream though and so he had actually gotten down on bended knee and proposed, which he had happily accepted. They had then decided against a big wedding ceremony and done it quietly, with only the team and his two brothers present at the ceremony.

Spencer often admired his engagement ring as it was a beautiful and fit him perfectly, as it was a simple white gold band encrusted with his favorite stone which was sapphires, although Aaron of course, had had to go even further and there was a emerald of just over a carat and a half in the center, rising above the band itself.

Spencer remembered how JJ, Emily and Garcia had oohed and ahhed over it thinking it was just lovely and he'd had to agree, though he wished at the time that Aaron hadn't gone and spent so much money on it since emeralds weren't cheap. He knew better than to say anything though, because Aaron would just tell him that he deserved it and that he just needed to accept it for what it was and that was the fact that he was loved and adored. Spencer hadn't bothered to try to convince his mate that it was too much since Aaron was one of the most stubborn men that Spencer had ever known and he knew it would do no good and he really did love the ring that his mate had chosen for him.

Aaron had told him that all werewolf couples bought stuff like this for their mates, if they could afford it that was to show that they were loved and appreciated as words weren't always enough. Spencer knew that Aaron would say that this was what couples did when they loved each other and not just Lifemates like they were, but human couples to. Aaron would tell him quite gruffly to get over it and that he had to learn to accept the fact, that he deserved nice things and just because his upbringing had been lousy was no reason to continue living without the finer things in life or live like a monk when he made plenty of money now. Besides, he wanted him to know that he was loved for more than just for the sex and Spencer knew that Aaron was correct and he needed to stop worrying about money, especially since they both made plenty. Aaron also had more than enough in the bank to have a good life even if he lived for 500 years. Spencer knew that he had increased his mate's portfolio of investments quite a bit, by about 8% in the last few years actually, which meant several million in additional funds which added to Aaron's already very healthy bank account as his inheritance from his parents had been quite large. The two of them didn't need to ever worry about money unless one of them did something monumentally stupid. Since neither one of them were rash or stupid and likely to fall for some sort of scam it was unlikely that the millions of dollars that Aaron had in several different bank accounts was going anywhere.

Aaron had given him several nice things over the years they had been together for his birthday and their anniversaries and not always jewelry as one time he had given him the entire series of Dr. Who on DVD and since it was his favorite show hands-down he hadn't objected, even though he had known that it had to have cost Aaron at least several hundred dollars.

"I forgave you a long time ago," Spencer admitted. "I might wish you had told me what you were going to do, but I suppose you knew I would try to talk you out of it, which is why you likely didn't inform me."

"It also has to do with the fact that I'm the Alpha of the relationship and therefore, ultimately in charge and so it was my decision," Hotch said. "As I told you already couples have joint bank accounts all the time, even when they aren't Lifemates like we are. I only added your name to my main checking account not to my savings account or other checking accounts. The bulk of my money is spread out over several banks as it's better not to put all your eggs in one basket or all your money in one bank especially when you have so much of it and that way if some hacker hacks into one of the bank systems you don't lose everything. My checking account has a set sum of money in it and is automatically refilled from one of my savings account so that it never drops below a certain amount. Yes, for most decisions we discuss options like we did when it came to using the IVF process for instance, since it involved both of us, but the decision about adding you to my main checking account was mine alone and this way I avoided an argument. I knew you wouldn't like it, just as you always complain when I shower you with expensive gifts, because you deserve them, but it still had to be done whether or not you liked it at the time or now."

"I know," Spencer sighed giving in just like he always did, because he knew that he'd never be able to win the argument, not when Aaron knew he was in the right.

"Accept that you deserve to be showered with gifts whether expensive or not, even though I know your upbringing was not ideal thanks to certain people who shall remain nameless. You wouldn't object to being given a genuine gift, one given from love and affection if you had been raised properly in a normal family. Most people accept gifts with thanks, whether it's something inexpensive or something very pricey like the engagement and wedding bands I got you."

"Not to mention a very nice watch that I'm afraid to wear to work in case it get's damaged, the gold necklace, the platinum men's bracelet that is inscribed on the backside and several other things. I really do love everything you've gotten me I just wish you'd stop spending so much to me that's all."

"Not going to happen," Hotch smiled knowing that his mate was being very sincere. "You deserve everything and more just for being the wonderful person that you are. You should have been receiving gifts for birthdays and Christmas when you were a child, which you didn't because that man you share your blood with was such a ponce. You had to grow up so poor, because your father left you with absolutely nothing and so you deserve to be spoiled a bit now, because you didn't get gifts like you should have as a pup. It doesn't matter how inexpensive that gift is just so you know that you've been thought about and are loved. It doesn't matter what kind of gift, as it could be just a toy you wanted, but couldn't afford or movie or theater tickets or a piece of jewelry or in your case probably a book. Besides, I like getting you gifts, just because I love you with every fiber of my being and your reaction is always pretty amusing too, which is a bonus."

Reid rolled his eyes at that last part of his mate's statement, but found he had to agree, at least if he was looking at it from Aaron's point of view he supposed his reactions to receiving an expensive gift would be considered pretty amusing.

"I'll say this once and then I'm not going to bring the subject up again and that is if you and your brothers had grown up normally you would've been receiving birthday and Christmas presents at least. Also most adults give each other gifts for their anniversary as well and again it doesn't matter how expensive that gift is just so long as it is thoughtful. It is a way to let a person know that they were thought about and that they didn't forget such an important date. More good relationships have broken up because, one spouse forgets an important date like an anniversary. Now, I know that's not really possible with the two of us, so in your case it shows you that I truly appreciate the changes you have brought into my life in the last few years and I also do it because as I said I love you."

"All right," Spencer said giving in. "I'll stop complaining, although I still think you spend way too much money."

"Noted," Hotch said with a smirk at the victory he'd won. "However, it is my money to use as I want and it isn't like I can't afford it, so there's really no point of complaining about the cost. As you know my parents were quite wealthy and I got the largest chunk along with my five other siblings born at the same time. Not to mention you have increased what was already a ridiculous amount just from your very astute investing and unless one of my descendents loses the money like in a stock market crash or something they are never going to have to worry about money either."

Spencer sighed, but didn't say anything because he knew that Aaron was correct.

"And just so you know I've already opened trust funds for your half siblings that you adopted awhile back and I'm going to do the same when ours are born. They will be taught to be responsible, just like I was when I was younger, except I don't plan on doing it in the same way that my parents did to me and my numerous siblings," Hotch said.

Spencer knew what that meant as he knew that Aaron's father in particular had been pretty abusive and had used to have methods making sure the seed of his loins were paying attention when he was teaching them things they needed to know. He knew that Aaron's father had used to slap his children around if he felt that their attention was lagging and had also used to rap their knuckles very harshly just like they had used to do in those Catholic schools run by nuns. Aaron's father's actions were abusive if only because there had been other ways that Aaron's father had used to get his children's attention, ways that were much worse and more harsh. What had happened to his mate when he was a child would definitely be considered child abuse, but Spencer knew that a lot of abuse was never caught or identified and even if it had been in this case it would not be a good idea for any of the children to go into foster homes, because of what they were. Spencer supposed it was just as well that that hadn't happened, although that didn't mean that he couldn't feel sorry for what his mate had had to endure. Spencer knew that the abuse he had suffered was largely responsible for turning his mate into what he was today and that was the man of ironclad conviction and that believed in justice and also why he was such a strong Alpha male, one that refused to back down for any reason. Still, he couldn't help but feel sympathy for him, because in some ways his childhood had been worse than his own, even though he knew that him feeling sorry for his mate was the last thing Aaron wanted.

"I give up," Spencer sighed raising his hands and surrender.

"Good, I'm glad you're being reasonable," Hotch said, as he pulled Spencer close and just enjoyed the flesh to flesh contact with the man he loved.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

"You actually went ahead and did it?" Rossi asked his two teammates in amazement.

"Yep! We did," Hotch said with a smirk. "We were going to do it anyway, even if Strauss had lived, but having a section chief that is more understanding and doesn't have a grudge against me in particular certainly helped.

"It was always going to happen," Spencer repeated. "Aaron and I talked about it quite a few times before we finally decided to go ahead and do it. While we love our half siblings that we officially adopted, there's something about having a child with your own blood."

"I'm surprised you didn't mention it before you actually went ahead and did it," Morgan said speaking for the first time.

"Why?" Spencer asked his friend. "It was something between Aaron and I that didn't involve the rest of you as the decision was ours alone, so why should we mention it? Our private lives are exactly that… Private."

"Because I would've tried to talk you out of it," Morgan burst out. "I would think a dozen children is more than enough for anybody."

Spencer looked at Aaron and his expression said, I told you so!

Hotch smirked back and his expression conveyed very clearly his thoughts and they were: I knew in advance that it would be Morgan that would object the most as he still thinks he needs to protect you.

"Alright, enough of this private conversation, shit," Morgan complained.

Spencer turned back to his friend and told him very calmly, "The reason we didn't mention it as we both knew you would be the one to object, even though what Aaron and I decide to do outside of work is none of your concern. Both Aaron and I love children and while we both adore the children we already have, having some that has both our DNAs is something special to both of us."

"How did you accomplish that since you are both, you know?" asked Emily suddenly as she had been listening intently to the confrontation between Morgan and Reid and was quietly amused at Morgan's reaction.

"One of my sisters agreed to donate some eggs to the cause," Hotch explained calmly. "She's not married and doesn't even have a serious boyfriend. Spencer and I agreed that we'd make her the godmother to the children we have, so that she'll play a major part in their lives. She has agreed to raise them if anything should happen to Spencer and I, even if that's not very likely. I know what you are going to ask next, and the answer is no, she's not the surrogate as that would be too much like incest."

JJ deflated as that was going to be her question and yet Hotch had anticipated it and answered it before she could even voice it.

"Someone that Aaron known for years agreed to do it, as she felt that she owed him a favor because he's the one that introduced her to her husband and yes, the husband agreed to it to. The woman in question already has quite a few children of her own."

"So how many are you having?" asked JJ now.

"Well, originally we were going to do quadruplets and also four embryos is the number of that is legal to implant into a woman at one time was also a consideration," Hotch explained.

"However, we heard just a few days ago that two of the embryos split so we'll be getting two sets of identical twins and this is not all that unusual with the IVF process, but still I thought that maybe one of them would do that, not two," Spencer said

"Wow!" Emily whistled appreciatively. "So you are getting half a dozen children? That is if all the embryos turned into fetuses, since I know that's not always a sure thing."

"We are," Spencer admitted. "Just so you know identical twins seem to run in my family, even though scientists don't believe that identical twins run in family lines and that they're totally random. However, in my family's case I had Garcia do some research for me and she managed to trace my family tree back about 400 years and it turns out, that in almost every generation there is a set of identical twins from at least one of my ancestors as the Reids always have quite a few children apiece."

"So you're saying that at least one of your ancestors children had a set of identical twins for at least the last 400 years," JJ said.

"So it shouldn't be surprising that two of your embryos split until you get two sets of identical twins instead of one," Rossi finished JJ sentence.

"I was kind of surprised actually, as I expected maybe one of the embryos to do that, but not more than that. I know identical twins are more common with the IVF process, but still it was a totally unexpected event, not that I'm not happy about it, just surprised that it happened," Spencer said.

"Am I the only one that thinks two of them are crazy for wanting more children when they already have a dozen?" Morgan asked interrupting the conversation.

"Yes," Emily told him bluntly causing Morgan to stare at her in shock. "It wasn't like this was a spur of the moment decision, as this has been brewing for several years and they just finally decided that they were ready to do it. It shows their commitment to each other for one thing and for another they told all of us that they were thinking about adopting, but they just decided to do it this way instead. So as long as they talked about it extensively and it was a mutual decision then I don't have a problem with it because we both know that they will be loved."

"But with our jobs…" Morgan began.

"It was our decision Morgan," Hotch told his teammate bluntly. "Both Spencer and my family always have quite a few children and I don't see how it's any of your business whether we decided to go through the IVF process or not and the only reason we are informing you is so you have time to get used to the idea."

"Besides, we intend hire a nanny or even two just like we did for the others and it isn't like we can't afford it," Reid added.

"Give it up Morgan, they're right and you know it," JJ told the stubborn black man. "It was their decision and you have nothing to do with it, because not only are you not related to either one of them they're both grown men. Some people just naturally love children and don't mind having a dozen or more running around and that's the case with Hotch and Spence."

"They will be given plenty of love and attention when we're home just like we do for the other 12," Spencer added. "We make sure we spend plenty of time with all of them and also to give Maddy and Lisa, the nannies a break. Other people have careers that means they are gone a lot of the time from home and the children turn out just fine and this case is no different, even if we're much larger than the average American family."

"That's the understatement of the decade," Emily snorted in amusement genuinely happy for the pair.

Hotch shot her a smug and amused look that made Emily nearly laugh out loud, but she managed somehow to contain her mirth.

"Hey! I have no objection as I come from a large family myself, but then again I'm Italian," Rossi said holding up his hands in a defensive gesture when Morgan looked at him pleadingly. "I have 14 siblings, but of course, none of them are twins, just singletons, so you'll find no help for your argument from me. Besides, it's already a done deal so there's no point of arguing about it at all, as it can't be reversed. This is what Hotch and Reid wanted to, and it's to late to change their minds anyway, which I couldn't see happening, even if it wasn't an already irreversible decision. Once Aaron makes up his mind he almost never changes it and Reid is the same way."

Morgan threw up his hands in defeat and finally decided that Spencer and Hotch were right it really was not at his business at all and he silently admitted to himself that he didn't love children the way his two teammates did. He certainly hoped to have a couple of his own someday, but not the horde that Hotch and Spencer had even if they were their half sibling and not technically their children.

"Alright, I admit defeat," Morgan said raising his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Good," Spencer said while Hotch smirked at his subordinate. "It shouldn't have been an argument anyway, because Aaron's and my life are our own. I'm nearly 30 and I can make my own decisions and it doesn't matter whether you agree with my decisions or not, because you don't control me or the decisions I make. If you even suggest Aaron forced the decision on me I may just strangle you, because you should know by now that he would never do such a thing. If Aaron and I couldn't afford to have anymore then we wouldn't, it's as simple as that. Aaron and I talked about it quite a bit, before we decided to go ahead and do it. As JJ said this wasn't a spur of the moment decision, as it has this been brewing for several years, we just finally decided that we were ready for children of our own, ones that had both our DNAs."

"I would never suggest such a thing," Morgan told Spencer offended. "Alright, I might have in the beginning, but even I can see how happy the two of you are together. My main objection is that most people don't have such large families. I know you took in your siblings out of a sense of responsibility and to make sure they grew up in a good home, but I would think that would be enough for anyone to deal with, especially when you combine Hotch's eight with your four."

"It doesn't matter how many children most people have as you ought to know by now, both of us come from families with multiple siblings, although I freely admit that mine is much bigger then Spencer's is. So what what if Spencer and I don't follow the 2.3 kids rule, there are other families that are as large as ours, although I admit that it isn't exactly very common, but then most people don't have the money to support more than two or three kids or they might not want more then that, even if they do have the cash to raise them. The two of us however, have both a love of children and the money to support them."

And considering our upbringing that's a miracle even if our species loves pups, Hotch thought to himself, but he supposed that their kinds love of children was their species strongest trait, stronger then the abuse he had suffered. It was a very strong biological imperative, much stronger then the human one certainly.

Everybody seemed to agree, except for Morgan, but he at least elected to not to argue and keep his opinions to himself.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

"Congratulations Spence, Aaron," Dylan told his brother and his mate. "I'm genuinely happy for you."

"What you aren't going to tell us that we have enough children to deal with and we shouldn't've done this?" Spencer asked his brother with a grin.

"No, why would I do that?" Dylan asked genuinely confused.

"Because that's what Morgan did," Hotch explained to Dylan with a snort to show what he thought of Morgan's opinion. "Morgan believes that with the dozen children we have, even if they're technically, our half siblings is more than enough, and that we shouldn't have gone ahead and done this."

Oh," Dylan said finally understanding what's Spence's comment had actually meant. "No, I'm not going to do that, because after all I'm a werewolf too, so I understand how important children are too our race. I've been spending a lot of time with the pack as I'm sure you know, since I'm not as busy as you are and I like watching all the children run around and it makes me yearn for some of my own."

"Morgan really didn't mean anything by his arguing," Spencer said, "he just can't understand why Aaron and I want so many children as he only has two sisters. In human families three children is enough for most of them. He doesn't realize that having children that share both our DNAs is really special, and while Aaron and I love the ones we adopted, there's just something special about having a few with your own blood."

"Morgan was only arguing because he was concerned that we were taking on more than we could handle, Spencer in particular, but that's what nannies are for. As Spencer told Morgan the other day if we couldn't afford to do this then we wouldn't have it's as simple as that."

"It was really none of his business anyway," Dylan commented and Spencer laughed, as Hotch smirked in agreement.

"No, it wasn't," Spencer told his brother, "but Morgan really does think of me as a little brother and he was only concerned for me and that I was taking on to much, which is why I didn't get upset at him. He's afraid that the children won't get enough attention, but we spend plenty of time with the ones we do have when we're home, even if that's mostly on weekends."

"How are Jamie, Sam, Richie and Barbara doing? I haven't had a chance to see them in awhile so I just want to know how they are doing." Dylan was of course, referring to his and Spencer's four half siblings that his brother had adopted when they're mother was murdered. Dylan knew the whole story behind how and why the mother was murdered and he totally approved of the Las Vegas packs actions, because he felt that anybody who would try to murder their own children, just because they were little different deserved what they got. Unlike Spencer who never wanted to take such actions into his own hands or even approved when it was necessary to take them had agreed that it was better to nip a problem in the bud. In his half siblings case, the pack in the area had given the mother a chance to accept that her children weren't completely human and it was only when she had tried to murder them that action had been taken to make sure the children weren't killed by her hand.

"They're fine," Hotch promised with a smile. "You should come by the house and spend sometime with them as they really miss their Uncle Dylan, Jamie in particular as he is very attached to you."

"I'm attached to him too," Dylan admitted, "all four of them really. Jamie makes me think of what it would be like to have a son of my own as he looks a lot like I did when I was younger. Oh, his eyes are hazel instead of brown, but the color of the hair is almost exactly the same as is the shape of the cheekbones and eyes and even the chin. The only other differences seems to be that Jamie's hair is curly rather than straight like my own and he has his mother's nose and mouth."

"Well, then you need to find yourself a good woman and settle down," Spencer suggested with a smile.

"I really haven't had much time to even think of looking considering that I've been busy setting up and running my own business," Dylan admitted. "Now that things have settled down somewhat though and my business is making money, I might have time to actually get myself a girlfriend."

"So your business is going well?" Hotch asked, as he had been the one to loan Dylan some capital to get started."

"Extremely well," Dylan said. "It's going so well that I'm already thinking about expanding even though I've only been in business a few years."

"You don't need to expand to fast and that's a good way to get yourself in trouble," Spencer warned.

"I know," Dylan said, "and I won't. I'll always ask you for advice before I decide to go ahead and do it. In any case, my electronic shop is extremely popular as I always have the newest electronics and my prices are most of the time more reasonable then some of the other places like Best Buy for instance. However, I do have an idea for you."

"What's that?" asked Hotch just a little curiously wondering what Dylan had been thinking.

"Well, I was just thinking that I could take Jamie off your hands when you're traveling and give the nannies a break from him as it will mean one less kid to worry about. For the first couple of years I couldn't do that, because I was busy making sure that my business was a success, but now I have several people who can run the shop in my absence, part-time employees for the most part. I use them normally a few days before the full moon and a few days afterwards. Yes, I realize that I could go directly back to work after the full moon is over with, but I take a few days just to relax."

"You deserve to take a few days here and there," Spencer said. "You can't work all the time after all and you need time to run errands and just to relax."

"You two practically work all the time," Dylan playfully accused them.

"Not really, although I know it seems like we work a lot," Hotch admitted. "We don't have set hours like most jobs, which is why it seems like we're always on the go, but there're times of peace and quiet, which Spencer and I enjoy."

It didn't really need to be stated why both men enjoyed those quiet times, because Dylan wasn't stupid and he could guess that they spent a lot of that time in bed having sex, but so long as his brother was happy then he didn't have a problem with it unlike Morgan had in the beginning. It was easy to see that Spencer was very happy and content with Aaron and so Dylan would support their relationship, because if anybody deserved some happiness it was his brother who had done his best to look after him and Trevyn when they were younger. Besides, he owed Aaron a lot for helping him start up his business, as he really hadn't had to loan him the money to do that, but he had told him and his brother Trev that since they were family, so he would be happy to. Trev had decided to take the offer made by Aaron's brother Sean, since both lived in New York and as far as he knew his brother's business was booming.

"If you want to look after Jamie sometimes when we are gone, that's fine with Spencer and I," Hotch said, not even having to look at his mate and know that Spencer wouldn't mind leaving Jamie with Dylan. "You will of course, be paid for babysitting."

"Oh, there is the reason to pay me," Dylan protested, "you're family after all and so is Jamie."

"You will be paid," Hotch said in a tone that brooked no argument, "Spencer and I are often gone for days at a time and we can't expect you to look after one of our pups for free, even if you're willing. It's not like we'll only be gone for a few hours, as we could be gone anywhere from a couple of days to a week or more, depending how canny and intelligent our unsub is."

"Alright then," Dylan said finally giving in because he knew Hotch well enough to know that he wasn't going to change his mind once he made it up.

"You can use the money to take Jamie to places like the zoo and other kid friendly places," Spencer suggested. "or use it to put gas in your car. We'll make sure we call often to see how you're doing."

"And if it turns out you can handle one pup, then maybe you'll agree to take the other three with you to other places, even if you bring them back home afterward, because after all they're your half siblings too and you need to build a relationship with him just like you have with Jamie," Hotch said.

"Besides, it's good practice in case you have kids of your own someday," Spencer said smirking at his brother.

"Considering I don't even have a girlfriend at the moment, that isn't too likely," Dylan snorted.

"You should start dating again and you don't necessarily have to find your mate in order to get married or even have pups you know," Hotch said. "Werewolves marry all the time whether they've found their mate or not, as you know, even if those relationships end in divorce, although in that case it was more your father's laziness and inability to at least try to work things out that caused that relationship to end. He didn't even bother to get a divorce and he certainly saw nothing wrong with having children outside the marriage. A lot of people of both sexes cheat, but usually the males are more careful to not get a female pregnant. He was unwilling to put up with your mother's illness, even though she was pretty much fine so long as she took her medication, but he wasn't willing to put in the effect to make sure she did."

"In other words, William Reid was unwilling to put in the effect required to maintain his relationship with mom," Spencer said. "Just like Aaron said it was pure and utter laziness on William Reid's part as he was unwilling to put in the time or the work required to make his marriage last."

"Yes, I'm well aware of what a bastard, our father was," Dylan spat.

Hotch smirked at the language that Dylan used and not only because he agreed a hundred percent with the term bastard, but because Spencer didn't bother to correct his brother for his language like he normally would, which meant that his mate agreed with his brother's opinion.

"And by the way, I'll be glad to take Barbara, Sam and Richie on day trips along with Jamie to the zoo and the like as they're lots of kid friendly places around Washington and Virginia, because you're right, I do need to get to know them better as I might have children of my own someday."

"Good," Spencer told his brother pleased. "I know Jamie adores you, but the others will too if you just give them a chance to get over their shyness around you. A lot of children at their age are shy and Jamie is the only one that isn't. I was certainly pretty shy at that age and believe me, I remember those days well, where I preferred to be by myself or just around my family and not be around strangers. I could bet you good money that either William Reid or his twin brother Robert were the same way as children, although we'll never know for sure."

"It's a very strong possibility," Hotch agreed, "because a lot of times that kind of trait is passed down to the children from one or even both parents and they'll eventually grow out of it. Spencer certainly has at least in most cases."

Spencer blushed at his mate's compliment. Aaron was always complimenting him and he knew he did it purpose so that he would know that his lover was proud of him and he knew that Aaron also did it because his father had never given him a compliment in his entire life, not even a backhanded one. In fact, William Reid had gone out of his way to criticize a young Spencer, no matter how well he did in class or how often he showed how much he knew just from the stuff he read. He knew Aaron was trying to make up for all his childhood years when he had never heard a kind word out of his own father's mouth and in fact, was constantly criticized, although his mother had complimented him when she was well, but after she got sick that had stopped. Even after all these years he still didn't know how to take his mate's sincere compliments, so his automatic reaction was to blush, and no matter how much he tried to stop that reaction he never could, probably because he still wasn't used to receiving nice words from a man he loved and respected, though he knew he should be by this time.

"To change the subject to some more pleasant, Aaron and I discussed it, and we would like to name you the godfather to the six children," Spencer told his brother.

"Are you sure?" Dylan asked in surprise.

"Yes, because for one thing you're the only one that lives in the area," Spencer explained. "Trev lives pretty close by, but we were thinking about naming you godfather to all six children, because he doesn't live as close by as you do and so won't be able to visit as often."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I'm sure that Trev will be happy to be named godfather to half of those children, even if he does live in New York. It's not really fair to exclude him just because he doesn't live close by. Besides, he is only a short train or car ride away and I'm sure he'll visit often. If he doesn't accept, which I consider unlikely that I'll be glad to be the godfather of the all six instead of just three."

Hotch and Spencer looked at each other and Hotch nodded and so Spencer agreed.

"Alright, you're correct, I was considering the distance between here and New York and that Trev probably wouldn't be able to visit very often since he does not live in the area, but he also has a money to travel now unlike a few years ago."

"So what sexes are you hoping for?" asked Dylan. "Boys or girls or both?"

"We're actually hoping we get three of each," Hotch answered, "but we won't know for months yet and since four of those are two sets of identical twins they will be the same sex and whether that's four boys, four girls or one set of each we'll find out when they are born. In any case, no matter what we get we will love them no matter what."

"Definitely," Spencer immediately agreed.

"Well, here's to hoping you get your wish," Dylan said raising his glass of soda as he had never been much of a drinker just like Spence so soda was fine. Actually, the truth of the matter was that none of the three of them were drinkers, and in his case, except for an occasional glass of wine he wasn't the type to drink or to hang out in bars or clubs.

"Here's to hoping," Hotch and Spencer echoed also raising their glasses, coffee Spencer's case and tea in Hotch's.

"And to the birth of my nieces and nephews, may they all be born healthy," Dylan toasted.

"Here! Here!" Hotch agreed wholeheartedly, Spencer echoing him.

"Even if we don't know the sexes yet," Spencer added after a moment, "not that it matters what we get because as Aaron said earlier we'll love them no matter what. Besides, the odds are in our favor, when it come to hoping we get some of each, especially with so many. I'm not saying getting all of one sex isn't possible, just that the odds are extremely small for that happening."

"And here's to a trouble free pregnancy and birth for Anastasia as Spencer and I will be forever grateful to her for her offering to do this for us," Hotch added.

"And for her husband Thierry allowing her to," Spencer added with a smile.

"So this Anastasia offered to carry the embryos for you," Dylan asked us he had not known this.

"She did, but not without the consent of her Lifemate, Thierry," Hotch said. "They both feel as if they owe me, because I kind of introduced them years ago now. I told them that they didn't owe me anything, but they insisted they did and so when they found out that Spencer and I wanted pups, well, they made this offer. They only agreed to do it once, which was fine since we already have a dozen pups."

"And the other stipulation was that we had to find somebody else to donate the eggs," Spencer added.

"Which was understandable as most werewolf females would never agree to carry somebody else's pups in their belly, even if it wasn't their eggs being used. In any case, it was a stipulation I easily agreed to, because I know very well that a female of our kind would never allow herself to become pregnant, by anybody other than her husband, or allow anyone to extract her eggs for their use."

"So this was a good compromise," Dylan said and Hotch and Spencer agreed immediately.

"It was, although the Delacroixs offer shocked the hell out of me at first, because it was so unusual as I'm pretty sure that no female of our kind has ever volunteered to carry someone else's pups, even if the female in question eggs weren't being used," Hotch said. "However, I wasn't about to turn down the offer, because both Thierry and Anastasia agreed together that this was a way they could pay me back for introducing them. They're the type of people that don't like to feel indebted to anyone even if that person is a good friend.

"Trying to tell them they didn't owe me anything, that they didn't have to do this, that it had been mere coincidence that they were mates and that I had only introduced them, well, didn't wash with them. I'm not about to complain though, since I could tell the offer was genuine made out of friendship and not obligation, even if they don't like to be indebted to anyone. I would never have agreed to the offer if I didn't believe it was made out of friendship and that it was genuine. No matter how much Spencer and I wanted pups we always could've found a human to use as a surrogate, although I doubt we could have convinced one to carry more than twins, since unlike werewolves multiples are pretty rare, especially triplets and higher."

"And human women also aren't as sturdy as werewolves females," Spencer added. "Werewolf females are made for carrying multiples and so they carry them more easily and for longer then most human women can. Twins always come notoriously early when it comes to human females, and the more a human female is carrying the sooner she goes into labor at least normally, although some manage to carry them for longer then what is the norm. Of course, the females of our kind still have to deal with the associated symptoms of pregnancy, aching feet, hurting back, odd food cravings and the like and carrying multiples makes those symptoms worse for most woman, although every female is different. This is why until the 20th century, even twins could die at birth, along with the mother, but now, if you have more than three, well, we have the medical technology that helps multiples of higher orders live full lives in most cases and the mothers to, of course, this wasn't true until the late 20th century."

"So you're not worried about your friend Anastasia?" asked Dylan.

"No, because for the most part werewolves give birth easily, even if they are carrying multiples," Hotch explained. "Sometimes a c-section is required, but for the most part, even if a female is carrying quadruplets or more they give birth naturally which has amazed doctors for at least the last hundred years. Werewolf females are made to give birth to multiples and in that way the woman are just like their wolf counterpart."

"Wow! I didn't know that," Dylan said. "I admit I know a lot more about our kind than I did a few years ago but still..."

"If that useless ponce you used to call father had done his duty like he should have you would know all the ins and outs of our kind," Hotch growled in a disgusted tone of voice. "It's part of our upbringing that we learn about our kind, so there're extra lesson after school, mostly on weekends for at least a few hours every day, so that by the time we go off to college we know all about our kind and how we are different from normal humans. We are taught our history, our tradition and our laws and I'm sure you know by now that most of our laws are extremely harsh, but then they need to be, because humans in general cannot find out that we exist."

"Yes, I understand that," Dylan said. "Rolf has been kind to teach me what I should have learned as a pup, just as I know you've been teaching my brother here, which is one of the reasons I spend so much time hanging out with the pack."

"Also looking for a little female companionship?" Spencer suggested with a grin at his brother.

"Maybe," Dylan hedged, which made even Hotch grin because he could hear the denial in Dylan's voice which meant that Spencer was correct.

"You're lonely," Spencer said studying his brother.

"Yeah, yeah, I am," Dylan admitted softly. "I know I have you and Aaron and your children, you're family, but..."

"You see how happy Aaron and I are and you want the same thing for yourself," Spencer suggested shrewdly.

"Yeah, that's right," Dylan admitted. "I don't want you to think that I resent you for being so happy, because I don't if anybody deserves it you do, but..."

"You want the same thing for yourself," Hotch repeated his mate's earlier words. "I understand how you feel, believe me, because before I met Spencer I was lonely as well. That's why I used to be a workaholic as it kept me distracted from that loneliness. I used to stay in my office for hours dealing with the paperwork that the government seems to require and I only went home in order to sleep and spend time with my pups. I don't do that anymore, though there'll always be plenty of paperwork to do. Still, the higher-ups can just wait for their damn reports, as I have better things to do nowadays besides, staying in my office completing all that paperwork, even though I know it's necessary."

The way that Hotch looked at Spencer then caused Dylan to blush, as the look was lustful, lavish and extremely possessive. It was if his brother-in-law was looking at Spencer as if he was a possession, but then again his brother didn't seem to mind. In fact Spencer turned to his mate and looked at him the exact same way as if Aaron was his and no one else's. Dylan now understood that mentality much better than he had used to because Rolf had taken the time to explain it. Rolf had explained to him that Lifemates looked at each other in a possessive manner all the time, as if they had something precious that needed to be protected and that was exactly the way the wolves in general thought, particularly Alpha males. Dylan remembered going to talk to Rolf the first time he saw how possessive Aaron was of his brother, as he had looked at Spencer with a hungry possessive look. The Alpha of the Washington pack had taken time to explain exactly why Aaron was doing that and assuaged his fears that his brother's partner might hurt him. Rolf had explained very calmly that Lifemates did indeed look at each other in a possessive manner and as property, because the wolf saw them as the one person who would never betray them. He had further explained that Lifemates looked at each other as their mate's property and no one else's and that there was nothing wrong with this view. It just meant that they would never cheat on each other with anybody else and that it was just a wolf's mentality to look upon their mate as their possession, a possession that belonged to them alone. Also that particular mindset would protect them from other wolves, especially ones like Spencer who was an Omega the lowest rank within any wolfpack and that usually meant gentle, quiet and unwilling to defend themselves whether from verbal or physical abuse. The other two ranks of werewolves were stronger not only in personalty, but usually physically as well. Aaron, as his mate would go out of his way to defend Spencer from others of the pack who tried to attack him whether verbally, or physically or even order him around, since some Alphas liked to throw their weight around. Thanks to Spencer being Aaron's mate it would protect him from other wolves who would try to take advantage of him. Dylan had been assured that Aaron would never hurt his brother as Lifemates could never hurt each other, that they could never be abusive towards each other, as that would be physically harming. It wasn't that Aaron and Spencer wouldn't argue, as all couples whether Lifemate's or not were going to, but they would make up afterwards.

"Sorry, we got kind of sidetracked," Spencer apologized blushing turning back to his brother after giving Aaron a kiss on the cheek.

"It's fine," Dylan assured the pair. "I know very well that this is just the way Lifemates act as there are several pairs in the pack that live in the surrounding area and I see them acting all lovey-dovey all the time. It sure does make me long for a mate of my own, though."

"Then you need to start asking some of those lovely girls in the pack out," Spencer urged his brother. "I doubt very much that you've met every single woman in the pack and it's possible that your mate is one that's married, since werewolves do marry each other, even if they are not Lifemates."

"It's not very likely that my mate will be part of the Washington pack," Dylan told Spencer. "The odds of both of us finding our mates within the same pack, well there are so minuscule as I'm going to not bother calculating them."

Hotch snorted at that for at that moment Dylan sounded so much like his mate that it was uncanny, but then again he should expect some similarities considering Spencer and Dylan were two of a pair of triplets after all.

"No, it isn't very likely," Hotch admitted, "especially considering that your friend Bella also found her Lifemate within the Washington pack and the odds of that were astronomical, so for three people from the Las Vegas pack to find there mate within the same pack, well, it is very likely, though I'm not saying it's not possible."

"I agree with, Aaron," Spencer chipped in. "The odds of you finding your mate within the local pack are more than a billion to one. I know that werewolves move into the Washington and Virginia areas all the time, and join the local pack, but the statistics still aren't good."

"No kidding," Dylan snorted, "I figured that out for myself thanks."

"Just because you haven't found your Lifemate should not prevent you from falling in love and getting married, even if I understand that's kind of hard for you considering your upbringing and your father leaving the family. It happens to children whether human or wolf all the time as children with your type of upbringing tend not to know if they are feeling love or not when they are attracted to someone. They'll dismiss it as lust or mutual attraction, but not love. The Lifemate bond between Spencer and I just removes the uncertainty from the equation," Hotch explained.

"I'm not sure I can trust if I feel something like that for a female I'm dating," Dylan admitted. "You're likely right that it has something to do with our upbringing, but even if it doesn't I don't know what I can do about it or if I can trust my feelings."

"I know, even for children who have happy childhoods have trouble knowing what they feeling for someone and are often uncertain as to whether or not they are truly in love or if it's just lust and mutual attraction," Spencer said. "Considering that we didn't have much of an upbringing that makes it least three times more difficult to know if you're truly in love. I told Aaron that if we didn't have the Lifemate bond that it was doubtful if I ever would have fallen in love and married, because I'd be too afraid to tell a female I thought I loved them if they were a human or that I'm a werewolf. The opposite side of that argument is that if it was another werewolf I'd be too afraid that I didn't really love the female in question and that's only if I was brave enough to ask some women out no matter the species as I'd have been too afraid of rejection. I'm certainly nothing like Morgan, who has a new girlfriend every few months, and sometimes every couple weeks."

"That's not a bad thing," Hotch told Spencer gently. "Morgan's problem is that he's not letting himself truly fall in love and I believe that his father's death when he was 10 affected him deeply, so that he's afraid to commit a case something happens to the person he loves."

"Wait Morgan's father was killed when he was 10?" Dylan asked truly startled.

"We shouldn't have said anything in front of you as it something private that Morgan shared with the team during a case a few years back," Spencer explained, "and it was hard for him to do so. His father was a police officer and Morgan saw him murdered by a pair of gunmen because the two of them had stopped at a convenience store to pick up some items for the house. He was shot in the belly and he didn't survive the surgery, but considering it was the late 70s I'm not surprised he didn't."

"That kind of thing can effect anyone," Dylan said sympathetically.

"Please don't say anything to Morgan or anybody else, as Aaron and I shouldn't've said anything about it with you here," Spencer asked his brother.

"You know I won't," Dylan promised. "I feel sorry for Morgan though, as that's bound to shade any future relationships."

"Which is likely why Morgan acts the way he does when it comes to relationships," Hotch said and Dylan nodded agreeing with that.

"And why he's so overprotective of those he cares about," Spencer added,

The three continued talking for another hour before Dylan finally took his leave and as soon as he was gone Hotch ordered his mate upstairs and to their bedroom, which Spencer obeyed immediately and eagerly as he had been wanting his mate for at least the last couple of hours. He hadn't wanted to rush his brother however, out of the door because the two of them really didn't get to see as much of each other as they would like, even though Dylan lived in the area, so Spencer certainly saw him more than he did Trev who lived in New York.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**


	26. Chapter 26

Part 26

Seven months later

Riinnnnggg!

Hotch kicked up his cell phone after he saw the call ID and asked gruffly, "Anastasia is in labor?"

"She is," the male voice of Thierry Delacroix said on the other end of the line

"Spencer and I will be there shortly," Hotch promised. "We've both been looking forward to this day and neither of us can thank you enough for doing this for us, either one of you."

"We know," Thierry voice answered calmly. "There's no need to thank us, we owed you one."

"I disagree, but I suppose it doesn't matter," Hotch admitted.

"No, it really doesn't, so we'll just have to agree to disagree," Thierry said.

"Well, at least if there's one thing to be grateful for and that we're not out of town," Hotch said before telling Thierry the two of them would be there in half an hour.

Spencer for his part was already beginning to get dressed as he had known it had to be Thierry this late at night unless it was JJ calling them to come in for an important case, like a kidnapping of a child.

"There is probably no need to rush, as I'm sure it'll be at least a couple of hours," Spencer said, "Babies come in their own time."

"Yes, but they said she's already been in labor for about three hours and this is not her first pregnancy so it likely won't take as long," Hotch said. "Thierry said it was going well, and he suspected it won't be more than another hour, before the first pup's born as Anastasia is already fully dilated."

"It'll likely be less, since that is the case," Spencer said starting to hurry as with this new information he knew the didn't have much time before their first child was born and he wanted to be there when that happened, even if he knew he wouldn't get a chance to see his or her right away. "Once a woman is fully dilated the birth is usually relatively quick unless something is wrong, so I suspect that it'll be no more than a couple of hours before all 6 are born."

"Let's get going," Hotch said, as he finished pulling on his shoes and strode towards the bedroom door. "We'll leave a note for Maddy and Lisa so they don't worry about us," Hotch added.

"We leave so many times in middle of the night I doubt very much that they would worry about us, but still it is only common courtesy to leave a note for them," Spencer said following his lover downstairs.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

35 minutes later, Hotch strode into the waiting room of the maternity ward with Spencer a few steps behind.

"How's it going, Thierry? Have any of them been born yet?" asked Hotch.

"It's going fine at least the last I heard from one of the nurse's who keeps coming out and giving me regular reports, out of courtesy, because she knew I'd be worried about my wife since she's carrying so many. I know that having multiples as a normal thing for us, but Anastasia is my life."

"Worrying is normal," Spencer told Thierry shaking the man's hand, "but Anastasia should be just fine, as having multiples is normal for us."

"I know, but I'll worry until all your children are born and I know Anastasia is okay," said Thierry.

"I would certainly worry about you if you could get pregnant naturally," Hotch told Spencer quietly. "I worry about you out in the field all the time, but I would never try to stop you from living your life as there is such thing as being too overprotective. If I tried to keep you from doing your job or to control your actions that wouldn't be an equal partnership and in a way, it would be abuse, because that means I wouldn't trust you to be careful out in the field when I know you always are, just as I am. Doing something like that is a good way to ruin a relationship and even if we are mates we might never recover from it. I won't ever go down that road where I control your every action."

"I worry about you too," Spencer said, "but then that's only natural, even for normal couples to worry about their spouse, but I understand that when you're Lifemates those emotions are intensified."

"That's certainly true," Thierry said entering the conversation. "Personally, I don't know how you and Aaron do what you do and act all professional, because I would be frantic if Anastasia and I were in dangerous professions like you are, every time she was out in the field."

"We internalize our emotions," Hotch explained, "and don't let it affect us while we're working, but I assure you the sex afterwards when we're finally done with the case and back home is always spectacular and that's how we handle the worry about the other."

Spencer blushed at Aaron's words and although he knew they were accurate he still he didn't like to talk about his sex life with anyone, even if he knew Thierry would understand considering he too was mated and all Lifemates handled worry for their other halves in similar ways.

The three continued to talk and Hotch and Spencer tried their best to distract Thierry from worrying to much, and told him several amusing stories about the cases they had worked recently, the ones that weren't top secret that is.

"You know as soon as our pups get a little bigger, maybe some of yours could come and play with ours so that they'd have friends around their own age," Hotch suggested and Thierry nodded thinking it was a good idea.

"I'll have to talk it over with my wife first of course, but I don't see her having any objections and it will give ours someone to play with besides, each other on a regular basis instead of it being a special treat to be able to play with some of the other children of the pack. Our youngest aren't that much older than yours, only a couple years."

"Good, because we won't be able to take the children out to play with others of their kind very often, not with our jobs, although I know that Maddy and Lisa and Beatrice who we just hired would be willing to transport them and probably will at some point."

"I'll get back to you," Thierry promised. "Anastasia won't object I'm sure, but still it's better to check with her first then to get myself in trouble, by agreeing to something without asking her."

"We'll be expecting to hear from you," Spencer said with a smile. "I know I've said it before, but thank you and thank Anastasia as well for agreeing to do this for Aaron and me."

"You're more than welcome, because Anastasia and I probably wouldn't have met if not for Aaron here, though I know he disagrees. Whether we would have met or not without Aaron introducing us we shall never know, so instead be we'll forever be grateful and this was a way to pay back the debt we owed him."

Hotch said nothing, because Thierry and Anastasia were well aware that he disagreed that they owed him anything for introducing them. It didn't really matter what he thought, for if the Delacroixs felt like they had owed him, well, now that debt was paid in full as far as he was concerned as Hotch was well aware that carrying six infants wasn't for sissies, even if it had originally started out as four.

Finally the same nurse that had been keeping them updated came to the doorway for the final time and announced, "Your wife is just fine, Mr. Delacroix and all six of your children are healthy. They're so healthy in fact that their lungs are fully developed that I don't believe that any of them will even need to stay overnight in an incubator, although that's for the doctor to decide."

"Can I see my wife?" Thierry asked immediately a great deal of the worry easing from his body language and his expression, though there was some present and would be until he could see Anastasia for himself.

"She's resting, and she'll probably be out for at least another hour as we gave her something to help her rest considering she just gave birth to six children," the nurse replied.

"Did you have to do a c-section?" Thierry asked next and both Spencer and Hotch listened to the nurse's answer with interest curious themselves.

Spencer and Hotch knew that Thierry had already signed the consent forms for c-section to be done if his wife couldn't give birth naturally, not that he had expected any problems. Still the medical staff expected it and in fact had tried to insist that Anastasia have a c-section anyway instead of going for the natural birth option. The doctor had tried to tell Thierry that there was no way all six babies would be turned in the proper direction and that a c-section was just safer. Thierry and Anastasia though had insisted that they try the natural birth option and only do a c-section if the doctor thought Anastasia couldn't you give birth naturally or she was some kind of medical danger.

Werewolf females had been giving birth naturally ever since their species had existed, even if they were carrying six pups at a time, which was relatively rare compared to other multiples such as twins or triplets and so it shouldn't be problem for Anastasia.

"It was so amazing," the nurse said with wonder in her voice. "Your wife kept insisting that she didn't want a c-section unless absolutely necessary and Dr. Richards kept insisting that she'd never give birth naturally to all six and she'd be lucky to pop more than two of them without the operation. Your wife proved the doctor wrong and the doctor was surprised when the first one slid out of the birth canal as slick as you please and the second followed less than five minutes later. When the third one slid out only two minutes after that the doctor went from being surprised to totally astonished as he had been so certain that a c-section was going to be necessary. All six were born naturally and Dr. Richards went away muttering to himself how it was nearly impossible that all the babies had been facing head first to exit the birth canal. I kept hearing him mutter miracle over and over again. Really it is something of a miracle, because normally there is no way that so many babies would be facing in the proper direction in order to be born from a woman's birth canal," the nurse admitted. "Your wife didn't even seem to have any trouble and it was as if she gave birth to multiples every day."

Thierry nodded listening intently, but he knew that his wife had given birth to four sets of multiples before this already and they had 10 pups, although she never had six at one time before as there had been just one set of quadruplets and three sets of twins and they were planning in a couple of years to have some more but after that they'd probably stop.

"So is it girls or boys?" asked Spencer.

"It's some of both, which is only to be expected," the nurse told Spencer when Thierry nodded at her.

"So how many of each?" Hotch asked next.

"Mr. and Mrs. Delacroix have an even number of boys and girls, with four of them being two sets of identical twins, one of girls and one of boys," the nurse said shaking her head. Spencer and Hotch exchanged an excited and happy look because that was exactly what they had wanted.

"I've never seen anything like it," the nurse added with amazement and wonder in her voice.

"I think we'll head up to the nursery while you go see your wife," Hotch told Thierry who nodded in agreement.

"Once I make sure for myself that Anastasia's okay I'll join you in the nursery," Thierry said

"Thank you very much for letting me know that my wife's okay but if you let me see her for just a few minutes so I can check for myself..."

"I understand," the nurse said and she did indeed, as she could see the worry etched on the handsome man's face. "I'll take you to her room and let's you have a few minutes with her."

"Thank you," Thierry told the nurse sincerely.

"You're welcome," the nurse replied.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

"They are so gorgeous," Spencer said, as he gazed lovely at the infant in his arms.

The two of them were in the nursery sitting in rocking chairs holding two of the children as they talked. The hospital staff now knew that Anastasia had been carrying the six children in her belly for Hotch and Reid and that she had already signed away parental rights. The hospital staff had been astonished at that revelation, as after all, Anastasia was happily married to Thierry and they were surprised that her husband had agreed to it. Neither of the Delacroixs had bothered to explain that they felt they had owed Aaron for introducing them and just said that Aaron Hotchner was a good friend and he and Spencer had been looking for a surrogate to carry four embryos, which was the legal limit. That two of those embryos had split so that there were six instead of the original four was astonishing, but had happened. They had then explained that none of Anastasia's eggs had been used, and that they came from elsewhere, so the fetuses weren't technically, related to them and that Anastasia had just been the carrier of those six precious lives. When the doctors asked even more questions the Delacroixs had refused to answer, because it was none of their business and so the medical staff had finally given up, although not happily, but they really had no business asking questions anyway since it had all been done legally.

"They are," Hotch immediately agreed. "I'm so thankful for friends like Anastasia and Thierry as we would've had to get a human surrogate if they hadn't been so willing to do this for us and that would have been difficult as we would've had to interview each one to see if they were suitable or not, so at least this way we didn't have to do that."

"Not to mention, as you told Dylan you doubted that we could have convinced a human surrogate go to carry more than twins, which is understandable from a human woman's point of view. Carrying multiples isn't for sissies and carrying more than two can be dangerous for a human at least," Spencer added.

"Oh, even a female werewolf carrying more than two has its own set of problems, though not as many as with the human female," Hotch said, quietly well aware of the camera's within the nursery. "A lot of the strictures that apply to human women apply to female werewolves to, eating a great deal for example so that the babies are a healthy weight when they're born."

"Yes, that's true enough," Spencer acknowledged. "So what are we going name these beauties?"

"Well, I think we should name one of the girls Anastasia, although we'll call her Ana for short in honor of the woman who was willing to carry so many pups for us."

"I like that," Spencer said immediately, "as Anastasia is a beautiful name. So of we're going to name one Anastasia does that mean we name one of the boys Thierry, which is almost exclusively French and isn't usually seen outside that country just so you know."

"Yes, I like it," Hotch decided, "so Thierry Reid-Hotchner."

"Has a nice ring to it," Spencer said trying it out himself. "What about the other four?"

"Well, I don't want to hurt you or anything, but I think we should name the second girl Diana after your mother," Hotch suggested watching his mate's reaction carefully. "I know you miss your mother very much, even if I also know she wasn't much of one after you were six or so, through no fault of her own."

Spencer looked choked up for a moment and on the verge of bursting into tears, but Hotch could feel that his mate was extremely touched and happy with this suggestion.

"I think that's a wonderful idea," Spencer told his mate kissing his cheek in thanks, once he had recovered.

"Alright then, what about for the other two boys and the remaining girl? Any suggestions?" asked Hotch.

"Well, we could try to use names from our teammates like Derek for one of the boys for example or Jennifer for the remaining girl or we don't have to name them after people we know and we can come up with things that are original and don't belong to anybody in our close circle of friends and associates," Spencer said.

"Well, if we do name the one remaining girl Jennifer it shouldn't cause a problem with JJ, since she always goes by her initials and only very rarely uses just Jennifer, except when she's introducing herself. If we name her Jennifer that would be fine with me and we could call her Jenny just to give her a nickname that further distances her from the Jennifer we know," Hotch suggested.

"I think JJ would be very pleased to have one of our children named after her," Spencer suggested and Hotch nodded in agreement.

"Well, that takes care of the girls and two of the boys so what about the last one?" asked Hotch, "and no we're not naming him Derek and not because I don't like the name, but because it will make Morgan insufferable and he can be insufferable enough without that distinction."

"Yes, that's true," Spencer admitted with an adorable little grin. "What about Gideon then? After Jason Gideon? Gideon is a nice strong name and means feller of trees or powerful warrior."

Hotch thought about it and realized this was his mate's way of honoring the man that was more a father than his own was, even though neither he or Spencer had seen or heard from Jason Gideon in several years not ever since he had left the BAU and cut off all contact with his old teammates.

Hotch knew that his old friend Jason Gideon had been emotionally wounded after Frank had killed Sarah his old friend from college and that he had left the FBI without a word except for a letter to Spencer, which had deeply hurt the younger man. Hotch knew that this was Reid's way of saying that he forgave Gideon for leaving and for not contacting them or at least him in the last few years.

Hotch knew that it would make his mate happy if he agreed to it and Gideon was a nice strong name.

"Gideon is a good name and it's not too common as a given name nowadays," Hotch said. "What about Gideon Dylan?"

"I'm sure my brother will be thrilled and Gideon is still well used, even if it's not quite as common," Spencer said. "However, I have a suggestion."

"What's your suggestion?" asked Hotch with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I was just thinking that we could use Emily and Penelope as middle names for two of the girls," Spencer explained.

"I like that idea," Hotch decided, "and then that means we can use David for the middle name of one of the boys after David Rossi, of course.

"So Diana Penelope Reid-Hotchner," Spencer suggested, "and Jennifer Emily Reid-Hotchner ."

"So what about a middle name for Ana?" asked Hotch.

"Why don't you pick? Do you have any personal preferences?" asked Spencer

"Not really, except for Anastasia, Diana and David that I suggested," Hotch said. "I'm definitely not going to name any of children after my mother or my father, even as a middle name as they weren't exactly nurturing or supportive when I was growing up. Besides, I hate the name Helen with a passion. You go ahead and pick out names you like and I'll tell you if I approve or not."

"Okay," Spencer finally agreed. "For the last girl I was thinking Bella as a middle name after mine and my brothers best friend. I know the real life Bella will be thrilled to have one of our children named after her or we can use another version like Belle for example."

"I really like Bella," Hotch decided, "and I'm know she was a good friend to you, so it's okay with me, as it's a very pretty name and I know Dave would approve, considering it is Italian and means beautiful."

"Alright then," Spencer said thrilled that his mate had accepted the names that he had chosen. "Do you want to pick out the other male names?"

"Leonard after one of the people that helped you and your brothers so much by giving you a place to stay while you were in college and teaching you so what you needed to know," Hotch said immediately. "The only reason I didn't suggest Gertrude is I don't like the name that much and I know that the woman who owns it hates it."

"That she does," Reid agreed with a smile, as he thought about one of the people who had helped him and his brothers so much. "In fact, if she ever learned of it she'd probably slap both of us on the back of the heads for cursing a poor innocent baby with the name."

Hotch laughed at that and thought that his mate was probably right, because from all she had learned of Gertrude she was a tough cookie, as well as being unfailingly kind, generous and loving. She never took any crap from anybody at least from what Spencer had told him of her as he had never met her or her husband Leo.

"Leo, on the other hand, was much more easygoing, so I'm sure you can guess which one was in charge in their relationship," Spencer laughed.

"Gertrude," Hotch said immediately.

"Definitely, as she was a tough, no nonsense lady, but also one of the kindest, goodhearted people I have ever known. She had this way about her that made my brothers and I feel as if we weren't accepting charity and refused to accept money from us once we began tutoring for our room and board," Spencer reminisced. "I think Leo will get a kick out of us using his name for one of our boys. Of course, Leonard is also a perfectly common name to and should cause no comment when they start school."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Hotch said, "they are only just a day old after all."

"True enough," Reid said. "Well, at least we have names to give the nurse to put on their birth certificates since it was left to us to name them."

"Which is only proper considering we are their parents and Anastasia and Thierry signed over parental rights to us. I'll be forever grateful to Thierry and Anastasia for what they did for the two of us."

"Me too," Spencer agreed soberly. "We owe them so much, even if I know they will disagree."

"We do," Hotch agreed immediately. "So to change the subject how do you keep identical twins from getting confused?"

"Different colored clothes and different styles to, is a place to start," Spencer answered immediately causing Hotch to smile as he had known that his mate was bound to have some idea. "Also make sure you put them down in the same crib every night and not one of the others at least while they are this small. Once they start to develop their own personalities it will be easier."

"Unless they start to act the same way in order to fool us," Hotch suggested dryly. "I've heard it happens."

"It does," Spencer admitted. "We'll just have to make sure that they each develop their own individual personalities, by treating them differently from the beginning. In other words, we treat them as individuals and not as the same person in two bodies. That's a mistake that a lot of people make with identical twins you know, so of course, they act the same. There will be some similarities of course, that's expected, but hopefully, they will be different enough for people to be able to tell them apart, without any trouble. Of course, upbringing has a lot to do with what a child's personality turns out to be, but so do their environment and their genes. I can't see our identical boys or identical girls playing practical jokes for instance as we are both pretty serious people and never did that kind of thing,"

"Definitely not, as my father would not have been pleased if I had," Hotch said.

Spencer knew that meant that Winston Hotchner would have likely beat his son black and blue, maybe even accidentally broken a bone in disciplining his son, if he had dared played a practical joke and gotten caught for it, so no, Aaron wouldn't have dared played a prank for that reason alone. Spencer shivered internally as he thought that in someways his mate's childhood had been much worse then his own, because while he and his brothers had been neglected and often yelled at for no reason, they had never been physically abused. He knew however, that Aaron didn't want his sympathy and so he said nothing just gave his mate a look of love that promised more later.

"I'll make sure I take you up on that look later," Hotch promised his mate softly with a playful leer.

"I'm looking forward to it," Spencer answered just a softly with a quick look of longing on his face, since the nurses kept coming back to check on the two of them and neither Spencer or Hotch were much for public displays of affection, especially in a place like a hospital as both were private people and felt no need to put their relationship on display. Still, they also refused to hide the fact that the two of them were a couple, they just didn't make it obvious, and unless you were observant you'd never know.

The two men were quiet, as they fed their two little bundles of joy their bottles and then switched with the nurse's help for two more who they also fed.

"Well, they certainly have good appetites," Hotch remarked, as he looked down at the little girl he was holding with such a look of love on his face that it choked Spencer up.

"Part of that is that they aren't preemies as it's usually just babies that are born early that have trouble taking the bottle or at least don't eat as much as they should. Yes, these six were born a couple of weeks early, but that's really good for sextuplets, but means that they are considered fully developed. Despite gestation being 40 weeks most single babies are born around the 38 week mark anyway, so this is considered perfectly normal and also full term," Spencer explained.

It went without saying that this was the same for werewolf children and Hotch got the message without it being verbally acknowledged.

"Thanks to Anastasia being able to carry them full term there likely won't be any of the problems that happen with preemies a lot of times depending on their weight and several other factors."

The nurse who had been listening commented, "You sure do know a lot about it."

"He's often called our expert on everything," Hotch told the nurse with a grin. "We both work with the FBI, the Behavioral Analysis Unit specifically and his knowledge has come in handy more than once when we're trying to solve a particularly difficult case and it helps that he remembers everything he reads or sees as his memory is eidetic."

Spencer blushed, as a nurse looked at him appraisingly. "Aaron, there's no reason to bring up that kind of thing," Spencer protested while Hotch just grinned at him.

"You're too modest for your own good," Hotch told Spencer in an unrepentant tone of voice, "and if you're not going to toot your own horn then I'll do it for you, especially when I think it's necessary."

The nurse laughed at Reid's expression, which was a combination of embarrassment, respect and knowing that his partner was right he was to modest.

"Our crime solving percentage has gone up considerably since Spencer here joined the team," Hotch added with a mischievous expression.

Hotch knew that he would likely be in trouble with his mate later for embarrassing him, but it would be worth it, because he really did think that Spencer was way too modest for his own good, which is why people were able to walk all over him a lot of times. Only when he wasn't around though, to prevent it as he always stood up for the younger man, since that was what an Alpha was supposed to do for his mate, especially when they wouldn't defend themselves.

"So when will we be able to take our children home?" Spencer asked the nurse changing the subject.

The nurse's lips quirked slightly and Hotch knew that she understood that Spencer had changed the subject on purpose, but he said nothing and neither did the nurse.

"Well, considering how big they are, especially for sextuplets and because they weren't born early, which is a miracle, it'll probably be today or tomorrow, but I'll have to check with the doctor to be sure. They are very healthy though and their Apgar scores are 9 and 10, so I suspect they can probably go home sometime today."

"Good we want to get them home and settled in and we've already hired a nanny for them because both of us have to go into work tomorrow," Hotch said.

"We took today off, once we realized that Anastasia was in labor," Spencer added, "as we wanted to be here."

"Well, you now have six precious lives to raise and that's not going to be an easy task," the nurse said. "Not even with help."

"We're up to the challenge," Hotch calmly assured the nurse not mentioning that he had raised 8 children with Maddy's and Lisa's help from the time they were just a few weeks old and then a few years later added another four, so Hotch knew that he and Spencer could more than handle the challenge, of raising six more.

"Aaron and I never would have gone ahead with IVF if we weren't sure we could handle it or at least gone with twins instead of quadruplets."

"I'm amazed that you're friend agreed to carry quadruplets in the first place, as even carrying one isn't for sissies," the nurse said shaking her head in wonder. "That's a good friend you have and you got two sets of identical twins so the two of you sure are lucky."

"Neither one of us will disagree with that statement," Hotch told the nurse with a smile, as he continued to feed little girl he was holding her bottle, while Spencer did the same with one of the boys. The little girl sure was sucking it down quickly and it was already nearly empty.

Hotch privately thought all his and Spencer's children were gorgeous as most of them had his dark hair and slightly darker complexion, except for the two identical twin boys which had his mate's brown hair or at least the fuzz indicated it would be that color once it grew in. Right now their eyes looked blue, but Hotch knew that in the next few months their eyes would change color either to dark brown like his or golden brown like his mate's.

"So have you decided on names?" the nurse asked and both Spencer and Hotch nodded.

Spencer reeled off the list of names they had decided on and indicated which children should have which names and also made sure the nurse spelled them correctly, even though there was nothing unusual about the names they had chosen. Well, except perhaps, for Thierry.

"Those are really nice names," the nurse said sincerely, "and most of them are not at all unusual, except for Thierry and Gideon. It's very nice of you to name one of your sons and one of your daughters after the couple that helped you out so much."

"We both wanted to acknowledge that we owe the Delacroixs a lot," Hotch said and the nurse nodded. "They've been good friends to me and Spencer for number of years, but I never expected them to make such a generous offer. I figured that Spencer and I would have to find a surrogate, a woman that was unmarried and willing to carry a couple of children that they wouldn't be able to keep."

"And Gideon might not be used that much anymore, but it's directly out of the Bible and means feller of trees or powerful warrior and is in honor of a good friend of ours that left the team several years back," Spencer said. "It was his surname though, not his first."

The nurse nodded impressed at how these two men were honoring their family and friends by naming their children after them.

"If it had been necessary we would have made sure that we had all the proper paperwork and that whoever was chosen as a surrogate signed it before we agreed to use them," Hotch said, "so that they wouldn't be able to change their minds, but thanks to our friends offer we knew that the paperwork wouldn't be necessary. We've known them for a long time and they're just too honest to go back on our deal, even if it was just a verbal one and they agreed to give up the children to us once they were born. Anastasia did sign away her parental rights however, though technically, they aren't related to her as it wasn't her eggs that were used. Still, better safe than sorry, as the saying goes and it was a good precaution just in case there was some kind of legal problem somewhere down the road."

"You're meticulous man I see," the nurse said approvingly.

"Both of us are," Spencer told the nurse. "We wouldn't be working at the BAU if we weren't extremely observant and good at what we do, which a lot of times overflows into our private lives as well. I was never a Boy Scout, but I believe in their motto and that's 'always be prepared' with my personal added addendum, 'for anything', mostly because we often encounter just about anything in our jobs."

"Well, I'll just go fill out the birth certificates and be back in a few minutes," the nurse said having written down all the names that Spencer had given her. "I'll also check with the doctor and see when you can take the children home."

"Thank you," Hotch said sincerely and the nurse thought it was a shame that both men were taken and with each other no less as they were both quite handsome and she wouldn't have minded dating either one if they had been single, though the brown haired one was a little bit on the young side for her, but still she would've given it a shot if he had been available.

The nurse left with those thoughts circling in her head and went to do what she had said she would leaving the two men alone, well not really, as there were other nurses that would watch them to make sure they had everything they needed.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**


	27. Chapter 27

Part 27

Hotch and Reid were able to take their sextuplets home that very day as their doctor said that they were in perfect health with no problems, even though that was considered a minor miracle considering that there were six of them and not just one or even two. Sextuplets were still pretty rare, even in the early 21st century and even for werewolves, though they were certainly more common for their kind then they were for humans.

Hotch and Spencer signed all appropriate paperwork and then took their children home. The two of them had a made sure that they installed six car seats into the back of the full sized van that Hotch had already owned. Transporting more than a couple of children, especially when they were only a day old, was a very difficult prospect, but both men were up to the challenge. It was rather difficult to get around when you had more than three or four children as the biggest vehicle made only carried a dozen, but luckily they had plenty of family and friends to help out, as most werewolves did and eventually children made friends and those friends parents were happy to transport them from place to place.

The nanny they had hired whose name was Beatrice, although she preferred Bea, was of course, there to help as soon as the two men had gotten home and they were grateful to her as it made it easier to transport all six of them inside with each of them carrying two. Beatrice had assured them that she knew how to care for multiple infants at one time and if she needed help there was always the older children who were always willing to lend a hand. With so many children it was like a military operation that was neat, orderly and on a schedule, because all the older children were in school and then there were other chores that had to be done. Clothes had to be washed, the children fed and multiple other responsibilities that went along with having a large family.

Dylan helped out when he could by picking the children up from school some days or taking them to the park or out to lunch. Unfortunately, Dylan was the only family member that lived in the Virginia area and the rest were scattered all over the country.

"They are so adorable," Beatrice cooed as she held one little boy.

"We certainly think so, but then we're the parents we're supposed to be prejudiced," Hotch said with a happy grin, as he held one of the little girls, who had already stolen his heart and she was less than a day old.

"All parents are supposed to see their children as the most gorgeous in the world," Spencer added and Beatrice could only agree.

It went without saying that some parents were not good ones as they abused their children whether that was physically, verbally, mentally or emotionally or all of the above.

"So what are their names?" Beatrice asked.

Hotch told her and Beatrice nodded thinking they had given these beautiful pups good name. "Well, I think it's time to take them upstairs and change them as I can smell at least one of them has gone in their diaper and they'll likely need to be fed after that."

"Do you want some help?" Hotch asked. "They are our pups after all and we'll help you out as much as we can when we're not out of town for work."

"We certainly helped with the others, when they were young, although now the older ones at least are past that stage where they need much looking after, other than being driven to school or to afterschool activities and the like," Spencer said with a reminiscent look on his face.

"It will not be many more years before the older one are driving and then they can then help take their younger siblings to school and afterschool activities," Hotch said. "You can ask for the older ones help when you need it if we are busy."

"I'll do that," Beatrice promised. "I'm sure I'm going to need help quite a bit, at least until the children get a bit older and not so much of a handful. I might be used to looking after multiple children at one time, but I always had plenty of help in that task, whether that was other adults or some older pups of the pack."

"I think you'll do a splendid job," Spencer told the older lady who smiled at him.

"And we'll help you out as much as we are able to," Hotch added.

"Whenever you need time alone just let me know and I can manage the pups by myself for a little or ask some of the older pups to help as I know very well that Lifemates need a great deal of time to themselves, even after they've been together for years and I doubt very much you get as much as you should considering."

Hotch and Spencer knew that Beatrice meant their jobs which did take up a great deal of their time and to make matters worse they were often called in, even on what was supposed to be their day off.

"We manage," Spencer said blushing. He knew Bea knew intellectually anyway that they spent a great deal of their free time in bed fucking each other senseless or that Aaron often woke him up in the middle of the night in order to make love him, because he was feeling rather frisky or horny and he didn't mind in the least as he often felt the same way. In the beginning he had been afraid of waking Aaron up just because he was feeling horny, but his lover had assured him that he didn't mind being woken up in order to make love to the man he adored and so Spencer was no longer afraid to wake Aaron up if he couldn't go back to sleep, because his cock was more than half hard due to intense sexual dreams.

For the first few months, Spencer had been relieving himself in the bathroom over the toilet, as he hadn't wanted to wake his mate up just to deal with his contrary cock that refused to stay flaccid and insisted on filling with his seed in the middle of the night due mostly to dreams he knew. But also because he was still a young man of 23 and his libido was in sexual overdrive, thanks mostly to the same source as the dreams namely his mate Aaron Hotchner.

Aaron had caught him relieving himself in the bathroom and he had gone ballistic nearly shaking his teeth loose in his rage. Spencer had been truly afraid as Aaron's eyes had gone the gold of the wolf, but finally Aaron had stopped, his eyes had changed back to normal and some intelligence had come back into them, although they were still filled with a cold rage, but at least the human was in control now instead of the wolf.

Once Aaron had calmed down, at least mostly, he had asked with a voice filled with menace why his mate was relieving his sexual frustration in the bathroom instead of letting him do it. Spencer remembered being very afraid, but explaining in a small voice that he hadn't wanted to wake the other man up, just so he could relieve his sexual frustration from dreams as that seemed selfish on his part.

Hotch had understood then that Spencer had truly not meant to offend him or make him angry as his mate had been unaware of the fact that only he was allowed to relieve his mate's sexual frustration. Spencer had been to afraid to upset him, by waking him from his rest. Since this particular aspect of their relationship hadn't occurred to him and therefore, he hadn't explained it to the younger man he had much more calmly sat his lover down and explained exactly what he expected of his mate. Hotch had explained in a quiet serious voice that because his mate had been relieving himself in the bathroom, because he was to afraid to wake him that he was betraying their relationship. He then explained that he was the only one that was allowed to relieve his mate's sexual frustration, because he was the Alpha and the two of them were mates and therefore, any relief from an overactive cock was to be relieved by the other and not in the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Spencer remembered that conversation very well, because Aaron had taken time to calm his fears and to sooth his shaking before explaining exactly what he had done wrong.

"If you need to relieve yourself in the bathroom at work or while the two of us are on a case in some city that is different, as we can't take off just to satisfy our active libidos, but while we are at home you are not allowed to relieve your sexual frustration in that way, is that understood?" Hotch asked calmly, but with steel beneath his tone and Spencer knew better then to answer in anything but a positive fashion.

Spencer nodded and Hotch stared at him silently until the Omega finally squeaked out, "Yes, I understand."

"Good, make sure you remember it. Now, if you have a hard-on in the middle of the night either here or in a hotel room and can't go back to sleep because of it then you are to wake me and I will be happy to alleviate it for you, more than happy," Hotch ordered gruffly. "You are never and I mean never to relieve yourself in the bathroom, except when we are working and can't just disappear for a quick blowjob, is that understood Spencer Reid? If you ever do this again, you will be punished and you will not like what I will do to you for defying me, is that understood?"

"Yes, Aaron," Spencer said his voice a little steadier.

"The only reason I'm not punishing you this time is you didn't know any better, as I neglected to tell you the rules because this particular thing didn't occur to me and it should have, since I was aware that you knew nothing about our kind. This," Hotch said grabbing his mate's cock roughly causing Spencer to whimper at his mate's touch, because while Aaron's grip was tight, it was also incredibly gentle, so he wasn't in any actual pain. His cock had immediately began to harden with need just from his mate's touch alone, "belongs to me, is that understood, my mate? Your manhood no matter what state it is in belongs to your Alpha and that means you are not to release your load, except at the times I have already explained to you, is that understood?" Hotch roared his eyes going the gold of the wolf again for a few seconds. "Tell me verbally that you understand what will happen if you disobey me."

"I understand," Spencer said and Hotch nodded releasing his mate's cock giving him a gentle kiss on the lips, to let him know that he was no longer angry and that he was forgiven.

"You never have to be afraid of waking me up in the middle the night as I will always be very happy to relieve of your burden, is that understood? Tell me verbally that you understand and that you'll never do it again."

"Yes, I understand," Reid replied as he continued to shake a little, "and I promise I'll never do it again."

"Good," Hotch growled his eyes going the gold of the wolf again for a moment, "You don't have to be afraid of me because I can never harm you, nor would I, as it would destroy me to do so," Hotch told Reid gently taking the younger man in his arms and hold him close kissing him on the forehead. "I shouldn't have shaken you like that, but the wolf in me took over as you were doing something that he considered was only his to do as your Alpha and your mate. I know I should have thought about the fact that you're still a young man and that you're bound to get an erection in your sleep. Hell, that's even becoming more common with me, since you and I got together a few months ago, which is why I'm always waking you up in the middle of the night in order to relieve that sexual frustration and I expect from now on for you to do the same."

"I will," Spencer promised nearly slumping with relief once he knew the lesson was over.

"I should've taken into account your inexperience and the fact that you didn't grow up in a werewolf pack so you genuinely didn't know you were doing anything wrong," Hotch said sounding contrite. "In this case it's as much my fault as it is yours, because I didn't explain the rules to you because it didn't occur to me to do so."

"You can't think of everything," Spencer said already having already forgiven his Alpha for the rather harsh lesson he had just received, because he knew he had been in the wrong, even if he hadn't been aware of it until just a few minutes ago. He knew that Aaron's lesson would have been much harsher, if he had actually known that he what he was doing was wrong, but since he had genuinely had no clue the lesson had been a lot gentler than he suspected it would have been otherwise. If Aaron had really wanted to punish him all he'd had to do would be to give him a very harsh spanking as it had happened twice, in order to teach him a lesson. Spencer remembered his butt stinging for hours afterwards as Aaron had very harshly spanked the naked skin of his posterior because he had put his life in danger when he shouldn't have and also disobeyed a direct order, which Aaron would never allow. Aaron had warned him at the beginning of their relationship if he ever disobeyed a direct order, especially where it put his life in danger that he would be punished harshly for it as soon as they were alone and his lover had been as good as his word. As soon as they had gotten home from a case, where he had put his life in the line of fire when it had been unnecessary to do so, Aaron had gestured towards the couch and ordered him to take off his pants and his underwear. He hadn't dared disobey that tone of voice and the look on Aaron's face told him that the punishment would be even worse if he dared say one word of complaint or disobeyed and so Spencer had done as ordered and taken off his pants and his underwear waiting apprehensively for further instructions. Hotch for his part had sat down on the couch and gestured for him to put his backside on his lap with the rest of him stretched out over the couch and his legs over the nearest arm. Spencer had known then what was coming and he knew he deserved it for disobeying a direct order and putting his life in danger, even if at that time he had thought he was doing the right thing. His mate would accept no excuses he knew, so he didn't bother to give any, he simply did as he had been ordered and lay down on the couch on his stomach with his butt on Aaron's lap and half his legs hanging over the arm, while the other half were also on his mate's lap.

"You will not make a sound, you understand me?" Hotch said his voice taunt with anger, his eyes having changed to the gold of the wolf, which meant he was more than angry, it meant he was damn furious, so furious the was barely controlling his temper. It took a lot to get Aaron truly mad, so mad that he was almost spitting tacks literally instead of metaphorically. "I'm only doing this because I love you and because you deliberately put your life in danger. You know what will happen to me if you die and yet you did it anyway."

As he spoke, Hotch started swatting Spencer's buttocks as hard as possible with the flat of his palm and Reid had to bite his lip in order to stop from crying out, because he knew if he made a sound, even a whimper of pain that he would be even more harshly punished as Aaron wasn't in the mood to listen to any explanation he could give and it would all be excuses anyway. He knew that any excuses he dared voice would only make his punishment even harsher as a result, so it was just better if he kept his mouth shut.

"You…will... never… deliberately...put… your… life…in… danger… again… is… that… understood...Spencer… Reid? Answer me!" Hotch harshly ordered, his voice low, menacing and threatening. Spencer could hear how worried and frantic Aaron was beneath the anger in his tone and so he knew that his mate having to punish him like this was just as hard on Aaron as it was on him. However, Spencer also knew that unless Aaron disciplined him and did it as soon as they had some privacy he would probably go and put his life in danger again without thinking about the consequences or do something else equally stupid that could get him killed. It was better to go ahead and punish him to remind him to be more careful in the future and although Spencer had intellectually understood why he was being punished that didn't mean that the spanking didn't hurt like hell. Aaron had a very heavy hand, which was probably deliberate as he wouldn't really learn his lesson then if Aaron was more gentle in his punishment.

"Yes," Reid's voice quivered and it was easy to tell that he was close to tears and holding them back by sheer force of will. "I understand."

"If you ever deliberately disobey an order again your punishment will be even harsher, that I promise you. I will listen to no excuses, none you understand? Answer me!" Hotch ordered yet again his voice a furious growl.

"Yes, I understand," Spencer answered again still with the quiver of tears in his voice.

"Good," Hotch said more calmly finally stopping the pounding on his mate's backside, which was now as red as a cherry and likely stung like the devil as well. Hotch knew that the soreness would go away in a few hours as would the redness, thanks to a werewolf's healing ability, but the harshness of the lesson would remain for all time as Spencer would never forget thanks to his eidetic memory. Hotch doubted he would ever have to punish his mate for the same offense again, although it was still possible that he'd have to spank him for something different in the future, but likely not for a long time as Spencer would remember his rather harsh lesson for quite sometime.

"You're forgiven," Hotch said gently leaning down to kiss his mate's red butt causing Spencer to squirm in discomfort as his butt was quite sore due to the many hard swats he had received.

"I know you're sore, and I'm truly sorry that I had to do that to you, but this lesson was necessary and I know you'll never put your life in deliberate danger again, especially when it is unnecessary to do so," Hotch explained gently holding his mate around the waist so he could not move from where he was laying on his stomach. Spencer was not allowed to get up at least until he finished explaining exactly why his mate had been punished so harshly.

"I won't," Spencer solemnly promised.

"I know," Hotch said gently kissing his mate on the top of his head. "I can feel your emotions and that you know you deserved it and therefore, you're not really mad at me, even if you're backside is still throbbing from my spanking."

"I know I deserved it and I knew it was coming, although I didn't think about the punishment I was likely to receive at the time I was deliberately putting my life in danger," Spencer said.

"Well, next time I know you will think about the consequences as I doubt very much that you want to be spanked again," Hotch suggested.

"Definitely not!" Spencer exclaimed. "How many times did you hit me anyway as it felt like it lasted forever, which I know logically it did not, but when you're being punished it often feels like that punishment will never end."

"I only gave you a dozen hard swats," Hotch said solemnly.

"A dozen? Is that it?" Spencer asked in genuine amazement. "My god, it felt like at least 30."

"I did hit you hard and instead of doing it over your clothes I hit you on your bare behind so that you would understand not to deliberately put your life in danger again. If I had done it even with just your underwear on then the punishment wouldn't have had the same effect and Spencer I warn you now if you ever deliberately put your life in danger again the number of swats I give you will be double," Hotch warned him seriously.

Spencer winced at that and knew he was going to make himself remember to never go into a dangerous situation again, especially not without his FBI issued bulletproof vest, like he had done this time, because he knew that Aaron would carry out his threat if he dared do something so stupid again.

"Go take a shower as the hot water should help your sore backside and relieve the pain to at least a little while," Hotch suggested gently giving his mate another kiss, this one on the back of his neck.

Spencer swung his legs over the arm of the couch and winced as soon as he sat on his behind as pain exploded through his whole body as soon as he put pressure on that very sore part of his anatomy.

"You know I still love you right?" Hotch asked. "You know I only punished you to stop you from being so stupid again."

There was an uncertain quality in Aaron's voice, Spencer immediately noticed and it took him a few seconds to work out what that meant and finally he understood that Aaron who was usually so sure of himself thought that he would stop loving him, just because he had been punished because he deserved to be. He admitted that most adults would have reacted much worse to being spanked like a child, but his common sense knew that he had definitely deserved some punishment. If that was to be spanked so be it, he would take it like a man, even if his backside still stung like the dickens. He deserved it and had to admit that if Aaron had just lectured him it would not have had the same effect. He likely still would have deliberately put his life in danger if he felt the situation required it, but he wasn't stupid and he would never make Aaron disappointed in him by having to punish him for the same offense again.

"I know why you did it," Spencer told his mate gently leaning down to give Aaron a tender kiss on the lips, causing the older man to relax immediately. "I understand that if I had died you would die soon after. I admit that what I did was stupid and I know why you had to punish me for it, as just lecturing me would not have had the same effect as physical pain. I will remember this lesson a lot longer then a mere lecture and you knew that, which I know is why you did it. I love you, and nothing will change that, except if you betray me, which I know you will never do, so that means I'll never stop loving you," Spencer promised. "In fact, to prove I'm not even mad at you since I knew very well I deserved it you're welcome to join me in the shower and wash my back if you like."

Aaron looked up and saw the sincerity in his mate's eyes and also felt it in his emotions and he knew that Spencer had forgiven him for the punishment he'd had mete out and that his fears of never being forgiven for having to punish the man he adored so harshly were groundless. Spencer understood why he'd had to spank him so hard as soon as they had the privacy to do so.

When Hotch rose from the couch it was with confidence as the uncertainty he had been feeling had disappeared immediately as soon as he knew that his mate still loved him even though he had had to punish him so harshly.

"I don't believe I'll be sleeping on my back tonight," Spencer commented, as he headed for the shower even though every time he took a step due to the jarring a surge of pain went through his buttocks.

"No, you likely won't be able to, but it should be healed by morning," Hotch said, simply picking his mate up without bothering to ask for permission, since he knew that walking at the moment was causing his lover a great deal of pain due to his sore backside, which was still almost as red as it had been 20 minutes ago.

Spencer yelped, but then relaxed into his mate's strong arms and his behind immediately stopped hurting so much, although is still stung something fierce.

"Now it's my turn to take care of you, now that your punishment is over," Hotch said gently, kissing the side of his mate's neck, even as he strode powerfully towards the upstairs bathroom, the one attached to the master bedroom.

"I'm surprised that you are not still furious at me," Spencer mentioned knowing that Hotch was no longer mad at him. "If I was an Alpha male, and my spouse had done something so stupid I would certainly still be furious with them, even after they had been punished."

"That is not the werewolf way," Hotch gently explained, as he climbed the stairs. "Once an Alpha wolf's submissive partner has been punished for whatever they did wrong, then they are immediately forgiven for their transgression. Lifemates can never stay mad at each other and once the punishment is completed they don't hold a grudge so long as they are sure that the lesson has been learned. An Alpha wolf taking care of this submissive partner after they have been punished is the wolf's way of letting them know that they are truly forgiven and the Omega wolf in you knows this, so listen to it."  
Spencer was silent as Hotch calmly walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower, which had multiple jets.

"So what does Omega you say?" Hotch asked as soon as soon he had the multiple water jets at a comfortable temperature, not hot, but warm, a consideration he made due to Spencer's sore butt.

"He knows that he's forgiven and that this is the werewolf way," Spencer answered quietly. "It's telling me that werewolves never hold a grudge, especially not Lifemates as that would be counterproductive to a happy life together. That as soon as the punishment is given and the submissive partner knows he was wrong it is forgotten about as it is over with and there's no point in continuing to flog a dead horse."

"Exactly," Hotch said snorting in amusement at Spencer's metaphor. "The punishment is over with, therefore, you're forgiven and I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to by taking care of you just like I do when you're exhausted and unable to take care of yourself. This shows a submissive wolf that they are not only forgiven, but still loved and that the punishment did not affect the Alpha wolf's feelings for their spouse. You would have learned this as a pup if you had been taught properly like you should have been, as it would've been explained to you likely just before you went off on your own like to college. Really, there is no set time for being taught something like this, though most werewolf families prefer to explain it after their pups are at least 16."

"Why?" Spencer asked and then stopped himself as fear flashed across his face.

"I don't mind if you ask me questions, Spencer," Hotch told him gently, as he saw the flash of fear that was quickly gone. "You are allowed to ask me anything just like always and you never have to be afraid of me punishing you for it."

Spencer relaxed at Aaron's quiet assurance as he stood in his mate's arms as the warm water beat down on both of them.

"As to why, because after a punishment like that it usually leads to makeup sex," Hotch explained without any shame or hesitation. "I plan on taking you to bed and gently making love to you, although I'll avoid penetration, because I know your backside is still sore from my punishment. I need to truly prove to you that I will treat you no differently, that you are truly forgiven and that I still love you just as much as before, because you still don't really believe it, which I know is at least partly due to your upbringing or lack thereof. Once I'm done with you, you will know without a doubt that I don't hold a grudge and that I'll always love you, even if I have to spank you occasionally, so you don't do something so harebrained again. I'm not going to stop loving you just because you occasionally do something stupid as that wouldn't be much of a relationship, now would it? Besides, you always forgive me when I do something stupid and just because I'm an Alpha male doesn't mean I don't make mistakes, because I do as I am also human."

"Yes, that's true," Spencer said quietly, as Hotch gently washed his mate's back and even more gently his backside which was still red, although not quite as red as before.

"Well, you always forgive me for my mistakes, so what makes you think that I'm not going to forgive yours?" asked Hotch seriously.

"You've never done something as stupid as put yourself in danger, like going into a dangerous situation without a bulletproof vest," Spencer pointed out.

"I was young once to and believe me, I didn't used to believe in my own mortality and I did some fairly stupid things as well, trust me on that. Unlike you I didn't join the FBI directly after college as I was a federal prosecutor for a few years, before I decided that life wasn't for me. I nearly got myself killed more than once before I joined the BAU and believe me, that there were a few times I thought lady luck must be smiling on me, because I would have been dead for sure otherwise," Hotch explained.

"I'm older and wiser now though, a point that you will get to eventually. As for me I matured and stopped throwing myself into dangerous situations in an effect to prove myself. I survived through sheer luck and the help of people like my mentor David Rossi, though I won't claim that I wasn't shot a few times, though mostly in nonvital areas. I didn't have anyone to correct my behavior with a good sound spanking as all I got was a stern lecture and of course, it didn't have any affect on someone like me, who was young and stupid and out to prove himself.

"I finally got my act together though, and that's why I'm still alive and where I am today. Believe me, back when I first joined the bureau I was quite the maverick and just because I didn't die, well, it wasn't because of any effect on my part. If Dave was of a mind he could tell you stories about me that would make you scared of ever letting me out of your sight again.

"However, eventually I grew up and stopped jumping into situations that could get me killed, and became what I am today. So you see Spencer you aren't the only one that has ever put themselves in a dangerous situation and you won't be the last. I'm actually surprised that this is the first time that you put yourself in such a situation as you're already 25 and been with the bureau for over two years now, nearly three actually.

"You're usually so calm and logical that your actions took me by surprise and I know you only did it to save that kid's life, but still, even though I would feel guilty for a child dying I can live with that on my conscience, but not if I lose you. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" Hotch asked his mate gently, as he continued to gently wash his mate's from head to toe.

"Yes," Spencer said quietly thinking about all Aaron had told him and how he wasn't the first nor would he be the last to make a stupid mistake as his mate had just gently pointed out.

"Good, so long as you learn from the experience then I'll be satisfied," Hotch said. "Now though, I'm going to take you to bed and make love to you, just to prove to you that I feel no differently, even though I had to discipline you for being reckless and scaring the life out of me. I punished you more for scaring me to death then because you did something stupid, just so you know."

Spencer finally understood why he had been punished so harshly and that was because he had scared his mate to death because he had gone haring off into danger and Aaron had feared that he was going to get himself killed.

"You okay?" came the concerned voice of his mate. "You've been lost in thought for quite awhile now."

"Yeah, I was just thinking about the past," Spencer begin to explain not holding anything back, as he knew by now he could tell Aaron anything.

"What specifically?" Hotch gently questioned, even as he started kissing the side of his mate neck, causing Spencer to make little sounds of pleasure and tilted his head to give his mate better access to that area of his body. The two of them along with Beatrice had put the six children too bed, but it would only be a couple of hours before they woke again crying for substance. Spencer though had done it almost on autopilot, as he had said nothing as he had mechanically changed diapers. Hotch had known that his mate was lost in thought, which was really not an unusual event, because he knew that he had been one of the ways that Spencer had entertained himself after he and his brothers were on their own after William Reid had left. Spencer would figure out some problem in his head or write a school report in his thoughts before he put it on paper, since he had a eidetic memory his reports would come out perfectly, the way he wanted them after writing them in his mind in order to distract himself.

Spencer explained what he had been thinking and Hotch asked, "What made you think about that time when I was mad at you for relieving your sexual tension in the bathroom instead of waking me up? I was mad true, but only until I realized that you really didn't know you were doing anything wrong and once I did, I calmed down."

"Don't I know it," Spencer said with a little grin, as he remembered that time, although he certainly hadn't thought it funny at the time, now though it was. "You had me terrified, but then I didn't know you as well back then as I do today as back when we first met I feared that you would seriously hurt me if I defied you. Now though, I know I'll never be harmed, so long as you are near me, even if you're upset with me about something."

"I know I could see it in your eyes and your body language, I was sorry for it, but the wolf in me was raging as he felt you were betraying and cheating on him by relieving yourself instead of waking me to do it for you. I didn't realize at the time that you didn't know any better until you explained and then the wolf in me calmed down. So are you going to tell me why you were suddenly thinking about that incident?"

"It was Bea that started it," Spencer explained, "when she commented that she knew that Lifemates needed a great deal of time alone and although I know she didn't mention sex specifically, it got me thinking about the first few months that we were together. I was still this young inexperienced kid despite my awareness of the evil in the world and my desire to help put criminals behind bars.

"I was still innocent in a lot of ways and I admit, that I was afraid of you at first, even though you had been nothing, but unfailingly kind to me, if stern and serious. I'm not saying I didn't love you, or the wolf in me did anyway, even though I didn't understand at that time why I did, just that I was uncomfortable around you for the first few months. After that, I knew you better and knew that you truly did love me that you would never hurt me deliberately, unless of course, you were punishing me for doing something extremely stupid.

"Once you sat me down and explained what I was doing was wrong, because you own my body, that I was your property and that you didn't mind if I woke you up if I had a woody, as I believe they are called sometimes, well, that eased my mind. I wasn't sure of my place in your life in those first few months, no matter what I felt for you and that's not a reflection on you, no, that's a reflection on me and what my brothers and I had endure in order to survive."

"You should've said something. I couldn't tell what you were thinking half the time in those first few months as our emotional link didn't kick in until after the first year and you were good at controlling your facial expressions and even body language. If you had said something to me I would have explained," Hotch said genuinely upset at what he was being told, but more at himself then Spencer, for not realizing what his lover was going through that first year.

"It was something I needed to figure out for myself," Spencer explained gently. "It was something of a revelation to realize that you not only wanted me around, but that you needed me around the same way we need air to breathe. Your explanation at that particular time only would've gone so far to convincing me of my place in your life. I needed to learn to trust you on my own and trust my instincts were correct about you and they were by the way. It was just something I needed to work out for myself.

"Now, I know I can wake you up in the middle of the night if I've had a nightmare for example or if I have a woody as I said earlier. But for the first four months or so before you discovered me in the bathroom relieving myself over the toilet, I was sure that any day that you would tell me you had been mistaken about me, despite the bond we share. I know I would have been devastated if that had happened and that it would have destroyed me. I just could not understand for those first few months what you saw in somebody like me bond or no bond as to my mind I was not all that handsome, even though I know you did and do believe I am, and that I was too intelligent for my own good as my father often told me before he left."

"Damn that man to hell," Hotch roared finally. "That son of a bitch is dead and he is still causing problems."

"Was causing problems," Spencer corrected, "as I got over my apprehensiveness and my fear that you were going to tell me you had made a mistake once I got to know you better. I know now, that you never would have said anything to me all if you hadn't been absolutely sure, but back when we first met I didn't know you, so how could I have known that? In any case, I knew I was a genius, but I was still incredibly young back then and my upbringing wasn't exactly normal so that factored into my doubts as well."

"Still, that man has been dead for years and he's still causing problems. If you had only been raised in a normal home, or at least by the pack you never would've had any of those fears in the first place. It would have been explained to you, why it was actually wrong to relieve your own erection and why you should let your mate do it, even if you have to wake them up. It's different for the other two ranks and the things I've been explaining to you ever since we met only has to do with when an Alpha male or female is mated to an Omega. Now if it was an Omega and a Beta it would be a different set of rules, well, some of them anyway. All I want to do is dig that man up, bring him back to life so I can kill him at least a dozen more times for what he did to not only you, but your brothers."

"It's in the past, as now I know I can trust you with anything, my deepest feelings or fears or anything else and you'll never judge me," Spencer said quietly, as he cuddled into his mate's side contently. "I'm sorry I didn't share with you what I was thinking of back when we first met, but now things are different and you know I share just about everything with you."

"I do," Hotch agreed quietly, as he appreciated his mate's warm naked form next to his own.

"So what made you think about that first spanking I gave you that you when you were 25?" asked Hotch more curiously than anything else.

"Well, when I was thinking about that first incident when I was relieving myself over the toilet," Spencer began to explain, "it led me to thinking about how your lesson would've been much harsher if I had genuinely not known what I was doing was wrong and that led me to thinking about that first spanking you gave me because I went into danger with no protection."

"I can still remember how my heart nearly stopped," Hotch said, shuddering remembering the fear he had felt. "I was afraid I was going to have a heart attack right there and I was very relieved when the team rushed in and I found out you were okay, it was only then that my heart started beating again. However, on the plane flight back home I was determined you were going learn a lesson. You're lucky I kept myself to a dozen swats instead of more, because I wanted to tan your backside more than I did so badly that there would have been very little flesh remaining by the time I was done. That wouldn't have been punishing you though, that would have been abuse as there is a fine line between one and the other and so I kept myself to just a dozen very hard swats knowing that you would get the point after that and never do something so stupid again."

"I'm glad you did keep it to just a dozen, because my behind stung and throbbed for hours and though the warm shower helped for a few minutes it was back to hurting as soon as the effects of the warm water had faded. You also made me forget about the pain for awhile when you were so gentle with me when you had your way with my body, but once you were finished distracting me the pain came back and I didn't sleep too well for hours that night," Spencer said.

"I know it, because I could feel your emotions and I know how much your backside still pained you, so I didn't sleep too well either," Hotch admitted. "I'm very attuned to every little sound you make and also your emotions and was even back then."

"Well, you can't say I didn't learn my lesson," Spencer said with good humor lacing his voice.

"Nope, you've never had to be spanked for that particular mistake again," Hotch admitted with a grin of his own. "I was very surprised that you weren't even mad at me for the pain I caused you. Believe me, I expected you to be furious at me and that I would have to coax you into realizing that you had deserved your punishment and into forgiving me for my actions."

"That's because I was well aware I deserved it for putting my life on the line when it was unnecessary to do so," Spencer explained. "Besides, I could feel how upset you were that you had to punish me so harshly, which told me that even if you didn't like doing it, you did it so that I never made the same mistake again and that helped me realize that you were only doing it because you felt you had to, not because you wanted to. I was never so grateful for the werewolf healing ability though, as I know that my posterior would likely have still been tender the next day if not for our ability to heal so fast and I wasn't looking forward to going to work with my backside still feeling sore, as I would've had trouble getting comfortable sitting on it."

"Yeah, it's a good thing and not for that just for that reason, but because Morgan likely would've caught on that your butt was tender when you kept shifting in your chair trying to get comfortable and wondered what had happened between us," Hotch said.

"Yeah, Morgan likely would've nagged me and nagged me about why I kept shifting in my seat so frequently until I got mad at him," Spencer admitted, "so it's really just as well that I healed up so fast. I don't want any of the rest the team to ever find out about that particular incident, because they would wonder about us and our relationship after that and also wonder why you punished me like that as putting ourselves in danger is part of the job. They might even have gone so far as to call it abuse, although spanking a child is still perfectly acceptable by the parents if they've been bad, but since I'm a grown man it would have been looked on differently."

"Yeah, it's just as well," Hotch agreed. "I never want them to find out about it either, but mostly because it would embarrass you if they did find out about that spanking incident or the second one."

"It would also be difficult to explain why you did it, as they don't know about the whole werewolf/Lifemate thing and that if you lost me it would be the end of your life as well or at least that's the likely possibility," Spencer said. "I understand better now why the Alpha has to punish his more submissive Lifemate if they disobey, even though I didn't back when those particular incidents happened. Yes, I realize that if I had grown up in a pack like I was supposed to I would have known and you wouldn't have had to explain it to me."

"In any case, I hope I never have to punish you again, except for when we are in bed playing the Alpha and the submissive, which is to both our enjoyments and not serious punishment."

"Yes, I really enjoy those sessions," Spencer admitted with a blush. "I certainly enjoy those sessions more then when you spanked my behind those two times, because that hurt, so I'm not eager for a repeat of either incident."

"It was meant to hurt," Hotch smirked, "it's certainly prevented you from making the same mistake again. I know it hurt at the time, but you weren't permanently damaged and the lesson was well learned both times and is seared into that eidetic memory of yours and shall never be forgotten. Besides, you're damn lucky I didn't literally tear strips off you instead of just sticking to spanking as I was that upset at you both times, but that would have been excessive and considered abuse."

"Definitely not, you won't catch me making the same mistake twice and I hope I never feel the palm of your hand smacking down on my backside like that ever again," Spencer said fervently.

"So long as you don't do anything that deserves a spanking, then you won't," Hotch smirked. "I'd much rather hold you in my arms and make love to you, then to have to punish you for a serious transgression like scaring me to death."

"I definitely agree with that statement," Reid agreed wholeheartedly.

"Well, of course, you do, as it's definitely nicer for you to feel pleasure rather than pain," Hotch smirked.

"I prefer feeling pleasure myself, like having your penis locked inside my narrow passage for example, even if I know I'm going to be sore for a few hours afterwards it's still much better, then a spanking, because there's earthshattering pleasure involved as well as intense pain, so it's different," Spencer suggested.

"We won't be able to do that for awhile, not until our pups get a little bigger as I'd feel guilty for leaving all six of them with Bea, even with the older pups and Maddy and Lisa helping out. By the time they are a year old however, we should be able to get back to me locking my cock inside your body."

"That's a long time to go without something that brings both of us so much pleasure, even if I'm very sore afterwards, but I do understand why it is necessary since we do have six newborn pups in the house that are going to require a lot of attention for the next little while. Besides, like you I would feel guilty for leaving Bea or some of the older pups just so we could enjoy ourselves making love."

"Oh, we'll still make love, as there is no way that a werewolf could give that up, especially when their spouse is also their Lifemate. I just won't be able to lock you for awhile, but we'll get back to that in a year or so."

"I'm sure a year will pass fast, considering we are out of town a lot for work," Spencer said happier in knowing the two of them would still be having a lot of sex just not having Aaron's penis lock inside his body for awhile because the sex usually lasted all night in that case. "This situation reminds me of our first year together, where we hadn't yet told the team about our relationship and we couldn't be together when we were in some strange city working, because we decided it would be better if we waited at least a year before we started giving the team clues that we were a couple. I know now we'll still be having sex, which I'm grateful for, since I don't know if I could go a whole year, without getting any at all. I've become addicted to having it as often as possible, but still in some ways it reminds me of our first year together," Spencer said.

"Yes, that was a pretty frustrating time just as this next year is going to be, since we were gone so much of the time," Hotch sighed, "but we'll get through it and having our pups is worth it."

"Definitely," Spencer immediately agreed. "I wouldn't change it, even if I know that I'm going to yearn for you to lock me for the next year and you're not going to because our pups come first."

"They do and even if we hired help we still need to take care of them ourselves when we are available to do so, since they are our responsibility," Hotch agreed.

The two men fell into a contented silence, and slowly drifted off to sleep in each others arms.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

"Ahh! That's so sweet," JJ cooed. "You named one of your children after me!"

"Well, you're really like my sister, the sister I never had and it doesn't matter to me that we're not blood related," Spencer explained with a smile at his friend. "You always supported my relationship with Aaron from the beginning and never said a bad word about it, which meant a lot to me, so this is my way of paying you back, although the name of course, had Aaron's full approval since he thinks of you as a friend to."

JJ stared at her friend for a moment and then got out of her seat and gave her friend a big hug which Spencer accepted with pleasure, looking over JJ's shoulder at his mate who was smiling at him. Aaron was well aware of what JJ's friendship meant to the younger man as he considered her a role model for him something he had been seriously lacking while growing up. Spencer well knew that Aaron considered it practically a miracle that he and his brothers had turned out as well, as they had considering their lack of positive role models among other things in their lives as children.

"Thank you, I'm really touched that you think so much of me," JJ said, as she didn't gave Hotch a hug as well."

"So what middle name did you pick out," Garcia asked curiously happy for her friend.

"Well, for little Jennifer here we picked out Emily, although we will call her Jenny," Hotch said and watched Prentiss's reaction of surprised pleasure.

"Wow! I'm really honored," Emily said. "Surprised, but honored."

"Why are you surprised?" Spencer asked his friend with a smile. "I also consider you a sister you know just like JJ. Children are often named after family members and besides, Aaron, our children and my brothers, the team is my family and I couldn't think of better role models to help make sure they turn out well. Aaron and I expect you will be part of their lives for many years to come."

"Ah! That's so sweet," Garcia cooed.

"True though," Hotch chipped in.

"So what about the other five?" asked Morgan.

"Well, for the other two girls we decided on Anastasia Bella, although we'll likely call her Ana for short," Hotch said, "and for the last girl we decided on Diana Penelope."

"Diana for my mother and Penelope of course, for our own favorite technical analysis," Spencer added when Garcia who appeared genuinely shocked a rather unusual occurrence for one Penelope Garcia.

"Now, as for the boys," Hotch continued before Garcia came out of her shock. "We decided on Thierry Leonard, Gideon Dylan and Travis David."

Hotch and Spencer had both realized after they had left the nursery that they had only picked out five boys names and so Hotch had suggested that they use Travis after the pack leader that had helped his mate in his brothers and Spencer had immediately agreed. He was also upset with himself that he hadn't realized sooner that the two of them had miscounted on how many boys names they had picked out, but then again he had been really tired at the time, since he had gotten very little sleep. Spencer had never understood why a lot of babies had to come in the dead of night, like 2 or 3 AM, but understood that it was just natural biological process and it wasn't like the woman could help going into labor in the middle of the night.

Every single one of the team was clearly thrilled and except Morgan who wondered why his name hadn't been used and said so.

"Well, we just ran out of children before we can come to you," Hotch explained with a straight face.

"Besides, we knew if we named one of our son's after you'd be insufferable about it," Spencer added also with a straight face.

"Hey!" Morgan said offended.

"Really, we just had too many male names to choose from as we know a lot of people that we respect and we just ran out of babies that's all." Spencer told Morgan calmly. "We aren't going to do like some people do and give one of our son's two middle names because if we'd done that for one we would've had to do it for the others to."

"We talked about it quite seriously, but your name just didn't make the cut and it's nothing against you, but we only have three sons after all as the other three are girls," Hotch added. "We had to choose which ones we felt were the best match."

Rossi looked at his two teammates, and Hotch gave him a wink as he could see that his old friend had already figured out that the reason they had left Morgan out was that he would have crowed and bragged about it.

"Wow! I'm really honored that you gave one of your daughters my name," Garcia told Hotch and Reid with a big grin having finally recovered from her shock.

"Well, you've always been kind of like, well, not a sister, but a crazy, flamboyant aunt to me," Reid told her with a smile. "You're the one that always makes everybody's day a little brighter with your crazy comments and upbeat, cheerful attitude. You help us face the dark things in our lives, especially when it comes to a case and a particularly vicious unsub. You keep us on solid ground with your jokes and banter and that allows us to continue doing what we do and not get lost in the sometimes darker side of human nature."

Garcia looked around at the rest of the team who nodded at her. She represented a light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel and when things were the darkest, she always cheered them up and made them push harder to catch whatever unsub they were after.

"You are often the only bright spot in our lives, Kitten," Rossi told her with a smile.

"Well, I never knew you felt that way about me," Garcia sniffled and Morgan put an arm around her pulling her into his side.

"Well, now you do," Hotch told the best technical analyst had ever known with a smile. "Spencer and I were very happy to name one of our little girls after someone who has brought so much cheerfulness and happiness into our lives."

"So have you named godparents?" asked Emily after a few minutes of silence.

"My brothers," Spencer answered immediately, "Dylan requested at least one girl, since we never had any sisters and I think he's practicing in case he ever has any daughters of his own. He connects well with Jamie for instance, but not as well with the other three, especially the only girl Barbara, probably because we never knew any girls around our own age and therefore, we never developed the ability to interact with them. Well, except for Bella, but she acted more like a tomboy half the time so she doesn't really count."

The team knew that Jamie was Spencer's half-brother and the other three were also his half-siblings, though he had legally adopted them so that they were his sons and daughter now.

"So, Dylan gets the two identical twin girls and the single boy as his godchildren, while Trev gets the two identical twin boys and the single girl as his," Spencer said.

"How did you not know any girls around your own age?" Morgan asked his friend in wonder.

"We went to high school while we were still children Morgan," Spencer pointed out. "Those girls were at least five years older then Dylan, Trevyn and I and they wouldn't give three little kids like us the time of day and in fact, a lot of them resented us enough just because we were so intelligent and so much younger, so we didn't exactly make any friends in high school of either sex, or grade school either for that matter. Actually, the only friend that the three of us had before I joined the team was Bella and that was it, and she didn't go to high school at the same time we did and so we didn't even have her to hangout with."

"I didn't think about it like that," Morgan said who'd had plenty of friends and girlfriends in junior and senior high school as well as college, but then he been on the football team and athletes were usually pretty popular.

"I didn't exactly have what you would consider a normal upbringing, so tell me when I would've had time to get to know girls around my own age, even if they hadn't brushed me off as a know-it-all as children tend to do," Spencer told Morgan who nodded. "Unlike you, I wasn't athletic and therefore, I wasn't on any of the high school sports teams and I doubt the teachers would've let me try out for one of the teams anyway just because of my age as they would have been afraid that I'd get hurt by the bigger children. I went to college at 13 if you remember as did Dylan and Trev."

"Alright, alright, I withdraw my comment as I now understand why you didn't know any girls around your own age," Morgan said holding up his hands defensively.

The team watched this byplay, Hotch with a little smile on his lips as he realized that Spencer had effectively distracted Morgan from asking any further questions about his childhood, which was good as far as Hotch was concerned, because the team never needed to know exactly what a hell his mate's childhood had been like or the fact that he'd had to do things that were against the law in order to survive. Even if pickpocketing was a rather minor offense, the team still didn't need to know that part about his mate's past.

"So when do we get to meet your children?" JJ asked.

"We'll invite you over to dinner sometime soon," Hotch promised, "and you can meet them then. It's much easier if all of you to come over for dinner, then to transport six infants to some restaurant. Once they get older and are actually walking it'll be easier to go places as we won't have to cart all that baby paraphernalia around."

"That's a good idea," Spencer agreed immediately. "We'll order in some food, enough for all of us."

"What you aren't going to cook for us, pretty boy," Morgan teased him.

"If you want in end up with indigestion then I'll be glad to," Reid teased right back.

"I'll do the cooking if you like," Rossi offered. "Unlike our boy genius here I actually can cook a good meal, but then again I'm Italian and we are supposed to have that particular skill."

The team knew this to be true for they had eaten Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners at Rossi's house more than once over the years when they weren't actually out of town working.

"Thanks, Dave," Hotch said with a smile in his friend's direction, "that would be a big help."

"I'm happy to do it, so long as you have the supplies I need," Rossi said.

"Make out a list, and either Spencer or I will do some grocery shopping to make sure we have everything you need," Hotch offered.

"You know with so many children you must have to keep a lot more food then is normal for most families," JJ said. "I bet you going to the grocery store cost you a fortune every time."

"I can afford it," Hotch shrugged. "Spencer and I never would've had even more children, if we couldn't afford to take care of them. Yes, quite a bit money is used in the grocery store just about every week, even if Spencer and I don't eat at home all that often."

"And if we don't have time to go grocery shopping then Lisa or Maddy do it and they spend their own money and Aaron always pays them back as all they have to do is let him know the amount of the bill and he'll transfer that amount into whoever did the shopping account or write them a check, whichever is more convenient."

"Well, that's a rather awkward way to do it, but it's better then giving them access to your account," Dave commented approval in his tone.

"I've been meaning to open up an account just for expenses for the children, you know doctors appointment, day trips and the like, I've just never gotten around to it. Every time I think about doing it, something seems to come up."

"You need to do that as it would be a lot less awkward," Rossi suggested. "You wouldn't have to worry about writing checks, or transferring the money directly into one of the nannies accounts, every so often."

"I know, I know," Hotch said, "I've been meaning to do it ever since Spencer and I took on the responsibility for his siblings as well as the eight I already had."

"Well, I would go out and do it next chance you get," Rossi told his friend who nodded in agreement.

"I'll remind him," Spencer promised. "We should be free this weekend unless we catch a case on Friday and that would be a good time to go ahead and get it done. It'll be one less thing to worry about so long as the account gets topped up regularly so it doesn't get too low."

"We can also have dinner this weekend and you can all meet the children, so long as we aren't working that is and since Dave's volunteered to cook we know it will be good," Hotch added. "If any of you had plans you can either cancel them or miss out because I doubt that they'll be another invitation coming anytime soon just because we are all so busy."

"I didn't have any plans," Garcia piped up immediately.

"I did, but I can either cancel the date or have it at a different time," Morgan said. "I for one don't want to miss out on Rossi's cooking."

All the others didn't really have any plans other than to relax and putter around at home and so the dinner was set for Saturday at seven o'clock.

"Feel free to come early and Spencer and I will introduce you to our newest additions before dinner as they go to bed extremely early since they're still so young," Hotch said, "although I can't guarantee you that they'll be awake for your visit, as they're just babies after all who are only a few weeks old and young children at that age need a lot of sleep, more than older ones do."

The females of the group continued to chat excitedly about dinner on the weekend and meeting the newest additions to the Reid-Hotchner household while the men just listened not talking much at all.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**


	28. Chapter 28

Part 28

Two year later

Thierry, Anastasia, Hotch and Spencer stared at the small boy in astonishment.

The small boy's name was Algernon 'Algie' Germain Delacroix and he was only two years older than the sextuplets that belonged Spencer and Hotch.

Algie along with his two brothers and one sister had entered the Hotchner house as it had been decided, that the sextuplets were big enough to have some company and start to make friends with the youngest of the Delacroix pups, but the minute that Algie had laid eyes on Jenny he had been transfixed, staring at her with such a possessive, tender look that it took a person's breath away. The adults had watched this in puzzlement until they had all realized almost at the exact same instant what was happening and that was Algie and Jenny were Lifemates even as young as they were.

"Has this ever happened before?" Spencer asked the other three and they knew exactly what he meant without him having to clarify.

"Non, not as far as I know," Thierry said in his thick French accent as he stared at his son, watching as he and Jenny played happily together, seeming to be in their own little world as if nobody else existed, except the two of them.

"I've never heard of this happening at such a young age either," Hotch admitted. "I'm sure it's happened somewhere in the world at least once, but it can't be a very common occurrence."

"That's got to be the understatement of the century," Anastasia snorted, as she watched her son and Hotch's and Spencer's daughter play together.

"Aaron always has had a gift for understatement," Spencer admitted with a little smile as he to watched the scene of the two children playing together.

"Well, what are we going to do about this?" Thierry asked. "It's not that I'm unhappy about my son, being Lifemates with your daughter, quite the opposite in fact, it's just that they're so young."

"I quite agree, with you, Thierry," Hotch said calmly, even though Spencer could feel that his emotions were rather off-kilter at the moment. "I'm quite happy for Algie and Jenny to be Lifemates, but we're going to have to watch the situation carefully to make sure they don't do anything that would be inappropriate for their ages. It's going to be a rather interesting experiment to see if we can keep both kids happy without disrupting what they have between them. I have a feeling that Algie is about to become like a son to us a few years early, because I suspect that he'll be spending a great deal time over here, as we all know that Lifemates are not very happy without their partner beside them."

"I don't think we need to worry it to much at least until they are a few years older as right now I suspect they'll just be best friends. It's when they get into their teenage years that we are going to have to watch the situation really carefully as teenage hormones have been known to get out of control before," Spencer said.

Hotch snorted did that and said, "You have a talent understatement to you know, because I still remember my teenage years very well and how I found a lot of girls very attractive from the time I was about 12 years old. I dated quite a bit from the time I was 13 until I went off to college at 18, but none of those relationships ever lasted more than a month or two at most. I won't deny that I fooled around in college as my hormones were definitely out-of-control and had been since I was about 16, but I was always careful to use protection, so I didn't get any girl pregnant."

"Yes, I remember my own teenage years very well," Thierry said nostalgically, "and by the way, Jenny has just become our daughter as well, because our son and your daughter getting married now is a foregone conclusion, even if that still years away as of yet."

"In fact, Thierry and I won't mind if Jenny spends a lot of time at out house, especially when you two are working, if you don't mind that is," Anastasia suggested.

"No, we don't mind," Hotch said and Spencer nodded. "We know that Jenny will be as safe with you as she would be in her own bed. I know this was a rather unexpected event, but the four of us had better make the most of it, because we know the consequences if we try to permanently separate two Lifemates and it doesn't matter how young they are."

"Anastasia and I would never do such a thing," Thierry said with a shake of his head. "You're right in the fact that it was unexpected, but it's not a unpleasant prospect at all as this will tie our two families officially together and I don't have a problem with that, as we've already been good friends for years. However, it is ironic that Anastasia carried Jenny in her belly, even if she doesn't share any of her genes and yet our son is her Lifemate. I'm not against it or anything I just find it astonishing that it happened this way that's all."

"I think we all find it astonishing," Anastasia told her husband dryly, but with a sparkle of humor in her eyes. "However, I will be very a happy mother when these two someday tie the Knot, although I know they have to be at least 18 to do that."

"I would like them to go to college first," Hotch said, "but I suspect that the only way that will happen is if they are married beforehand, sharing an apartment and going to the same college. I certainly wouldn't want to be separated from Spencer, if we had different professions for instance, one where I still traveled with the team, but Spencer didn't."

"I totally agree with that statement," Spencer said. "It would be torture to be separated from you for days at a time, because as it was hard enough for that first year before the team found about our relationship and we slept in separate hotel rooms. The only thing that made it bearable, was the fact that we were together almost all the time except at night."

"You could have snuck into each others hotel rooms," Thierry suggested with the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"I would've loved to have done that," Hotch said dryly, "unfortunately, the government is so cheap that the team share hotel rooms and I always shared with the other leader of the team at the time Jason Gideon. He's retired now, but when he found out about our relationship he wasn't very happy as he's extremely old school in that area."

"He got over it and accepted my relationship with Aaron after a lot of soul searching on his part, which is one reason why one of our boys ended up with the name of Gideon. He was my mentor and indirectly responsible for me meeting Aaron, since he's the one that convinced me to join the FBI in the first place. Gideon often lectured at colleges around the country and that's how we met. He saw my potential and convinced me to go through the FBI Academy, so I owe Gideon a lot, which is why I wanted to give one of my son's his name, even if the real Gideon will never know," Spencer said.

"You don't keep in connect," asked Anastasia in surprise.

"No, he left the Bureau after a good friend of his was murdered doing on one of our toughest cases, a woman he had known since college and her death nearly broke him. I believe he had been in love with her for years, but never told her and let his career get in the way of his happiness, which unfortunately, happens all the time. He retired shortly afterwards to lick his wounds and we haven't heard from him since," Hotch replied. "I think he believes that since he hasn't contacted any of the team in so long that we wouldn't want to hear from him, after he practically abandoned the people he had worked with for years. It's like riding a bike and if you don't get back on right away after you have fallen off you become afraid to and in Gideon's case he likely became afraid of his old teammates reactions to his leaving the bureau and the unit that he had been part of for decades. He likely keeps telling himself that we wouldn't want to hear from him after all this time."

"Garcia our technical analyst could try to find him, but Gideon knows the score and if he doesn't want to be found, then he is not going to be as he knows how to live off the grid and disappear if he so desires. You can't track someone who only uses their credit card once or twice in one place and then leaves that area immediately afterwards," Spencer explained. "If Gideon wants to get back in contact with me or anyone else on the team he knows how to do that and he can do it a lot easier than we can find him, so I have to assume that he doesn't want to see any of us."

All the adults attention turned back to the two children who were now playing with the others, which they were happy to see happen as none of them wanted Algie and Jenny to just get lost in each other and ignore everyone and everything else around them, so it was good to see them playing with their siblings. Even if their wedding was going to happen once they grew up the adults wanted them to make friends with other children.

"Perhaps, we should ask Rolf and see if he's ever heard of a Lifemate bond forming between two children who are so young," Spencer suggested. "It doesn't hurt to ask and if he's never heard of it happening, well then we haven't lost anything."

"That's a good idea, Spencer," Anastasia complimented her friend. "We definitely need to do that, so we know what we can expect as the two get older."

"I don't believe it's a good idea to mention the bond, quite yet," Thierry added. "We might want to wait until they're at least 10 or 11 years old after they started their lessons on our history, traditions and laws. I think after they learn that such bonds exist would be the time to tell them as they'll be much more mature than they are at present."

"You're right," Hotch agreed immediately. "Right now, all they know is that they're best friends and it doesn't matter to them how that came about or that it was so sudden. They're too young to understand what their relationship will be when they are older so why try to burden them with it until they're old enough to truly understand?"

"I'll do some research, and see what I can find about a Lifemate bonds forming at such a young age, though I doubt I'll discover anything," Spencer admitted. "I know not much has been written down on werewolves for a reason, and that it's mostly an oral history that's passed down in families. Aaron, if Rolf doesn't know anything you should probably check with some of your other close friends and see if they know if anything like this is happened before."

"I'll do that," Hotch promised, "if Rolf doesn't know anything. It's a very good idea actually, though I doubt two children so young have formed a bond very often before. It might've happened once or twice in various parts of the world, but I doubt they much it's happened more than a dozen times throughout our long history and likely so far apart that there's not much other than rumor and legend to go on."

"I'm going to hate separating the two of them so we can go home," Anastasia said regretfully. "I know that the two of them will someday marry, but they can't spend every moment together."

"It's not likely to be easy, and I can foresee temper tantrums of spectacular proportions when you try to separate them," Spencer predicted, "and the older they get the more difficult it is likely to be."

"Well, we'll deal with it," Hotch said. "This was such an unlikely possibility, that I didn't even consider it, as normally, a werewolf doesn't meet their mate until they're at least in their late 20s, although occasionally it happens to older teenagers as well, but not to ones as young as our pups are."

"It never occurred to us either," Thierry said. "I've never heard of pups so young forming a Lifemate bond so how could it have occurred to any of us?"

The others nodded in agreement.

"You know we need to look up on this as a good thing because neither Algie or Jenny will have to face the hell that is teenage dating, as they will always know that the two of them were made to be together. They'll never have to navigate that particular minefield and by the time they grow up they will know each other extremely well, which means that's another minefield, the getting to know each other, even though they're Lifemates. They can avoid a lot of the problems that occur with any new relationship unlike most other couples.

"There will be no uncertainty as to whether is he/she the one? Do they love me for who I am or are they after my money, my connections? If only everyone had it so easy, there would be far fewer divorces in the world among humans and werewolves alike and also a lot less crime, because they'd be more people getting along with each other instead of breaking the law. Oh, there'd still be a lot of crime around, but they be less of the kind where one spouse kills the other, just because they have something that the other wants, or one of them leaves the other for cheating on them and so forth," Hotch said. The other three adults in the room nodded at that as that aspect of their pups relationship had not occurred to them at least not yet.

The four of them continued to talk as they watched their pups play together, but they also kept a very close eye on Algie and Jenny to make sure that they weren't doing anything inappropriate, not that it was very likely as young as they were, but they kept an eye on the situation anyway, even as they chatted with each other.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

16 years later

"Well, as of tomorrow we'll officially be family," Thierry said, raising a glass of champagne and the others did the same so they could clink their glasses together in a show of solidarity and friendship.

"It's been a long time in coming," Anastasia said, "but that day has finally arrived."

"I knew we wouldn't be able to convince the two of them to wait until after they had graduated college, but we all tried anyway," Hotch commented. "I know a young woman getting married at 18 isn't all that unusual nowadays, but still, I felt like I had to try, even if I knew what Jenny's answer was going to be beforehand."

"Like they were really going to agree to wait until after college," Spencer snorted, "they could've been married as soon as Jenny was 16 had we consented to allow her to wed so early and signed the parental permission forms. You remember how upset they both were when we denied Jenny permission to marry so young and before she had even finished high school."

"Oh, yes, I remember how Jenny was mad at us for quite a long time," Hotch said looking nostalgic. "She refused to even speak to us for almost a month."

"Algie was the same way, even though Thierry and I tried to talk him out of marrying Jennifer until after they had both graduated college, but we should've known it would never work. We all know that Lifemates need to spend as much time together as possible and I know he had a hard time waiting these last two years in order for Jenny to come of age," Anastasia remembered sounding nostalgic. "Really, is it any wonder that they refused to wait to marry after college and instead are tying the Knot before they even start so that they can share an apartment together? It's not that they couldn't have done that anyway, even if they weren't legally wed, but I can't really blame them for wanting to tie the Knot immediately, since Algie has been waiting two very long years for Jenny to come of age."

"I was rather relieved when Rolf told us over 15 years ago now, that the Lifemate bond was a weakened version, but it would strengthen as they got older until it was just like any other. Really, it was a good thing, because we know that Lifemates, need to be together nearly constantly, at least until after they have had sexual intercourse for the first time and both children were way too young for that back then," Spencer said. "Now, however, it's just as well that they're going to the same college and sharing an apartment, because I'm sure that they're feeling the pull to be constantly together now that they're all grown up. I think only the fact that they spent multiple hours every day together allowed them to grow up happy, even if they hated being parted, especially as they got older, so that by time they were Algie was 15 and Jenny was 13 it was very hard for them to be apart. I well remember how Algie and Jenny were almost constantly together except at night."

"We did make sure they spent a lot of time together, even if we watched their relationship carefully to make sure that they weren't doing anything inappropriate to their ages," said Thierry, "and I believe that helped. Really, we had no choice in the matter, except to allow them to spend as much time together as possible, because they likely would have run away if we had not."

"Personally, I thought that Jennifer and Algie were very sensible about their relationship despite the fact that I'm sure their teenage hormones were going haywire," Spencer commented. "You've raised a honorable, gentle and loving son and he would never take advantage of Jennifer until she was ready to take that step. They decided on their own to wait until after their wedding before they had sex the first time and I thought that was a very mature decision."

"It was," Thierry admitted and Anastasia and Hotch nodded in agreement.

"Well, Jenny's a lot like me," Hotch admitted. "She's serious and has good control of her raging hormones just like I did at her age. However, if Spencer and I were around the same age and we had met when we were children neither one of us would be able to wait to get married past 18, just as soon as it was legal to do so as it would've been extremely hard to wait, even that long, so I can't really blame Jenny or Algie for that matter for wanting to tie the Knot now that Jenny's of legal age to do so."

"I believe that all of us can agree with that," Spencer said and the two Delacroixs nodded.

"At least we convinced them to wait to have pups until after they graduated college," said Anastasia, "so it's not all bad."

"That's something anyway," Thierry agreed with his wife and mate.

"Jenny is far too sensible to allow herself to get pregnant until after she finishes her college education," Spencer said and Hotch immediately agreed with that.

"After that though, I won't be surprised if she's pregnant almost immediately after they graduate," Hotch said.

"I'm hoping I can convince them to wait until their careers are established before having a few pups," Anastasia sighed knowing that was unlikely.

"If you can do that then it should be considered a miracle since both Jenny and Algie are extremely stubborn," Thierry snorted as he drank his champagne.

"Which they come by honestly," Hotch said. "In any case, I don't think we need to worry about them as both are also very sensible and won't take on more than they can handle. It's not like they have to worry about money, since I set up a trust fund for all of Spencer's and my pups, so Jenny has quite a bit of money to her name as do all of our other 17 pups. Now, while none of them can access that until they turn 21, since Jenny will still be in college at that point it isn't going to be a problem. I always thought that Spencer should've gone into business instead of joining the FBI, because he certainly has the head for it and has increased what I inherited from both my father and my mother at different times and so we're never going to need to worry about money, even when I have to retire in a few years because the government has a 65 age limit."

"And once Aaron is forced into retirement I'll be retiring immediately afterwards," Spencer immediately said. "I love my job, but there's no way in hell I'm going to be separated from Aaron for days at a time, just so I can keep it. I'm sure that the four of us will have more grandchildren, by the time Aaron and I both retire from the BAU and we can concentrate on them, maybe do some traveling like we've discussed multiple times over the years."

Both Aaron and Spencer were already grandparents many times over as some of their older children were already married and had pups of their own.

"And we'll still have decades to enjoy ourselves, since werewolves live longer than humans, although I admit that's rapidly changing as humans are starting to live longer nowadays and it likely won't be long before they can live as long as we do."

"Yes, that's true," Anastasia admitted, as she and Thierry were well aware that Jenny Reid-Hotchner had quite a large trust fund and even if she and Algie spent lavishly or had thirty pups, that fund wasn't going anywhere, nor was it likely to decrease, because the trust fund lawyer that had been hired to oversee all the funds was always adding to it by investing the money and making a profit.

"If we're all very fortunate we'll live to see our grandchildren grow up get married and have pups of their own," Thierry said.

"Well, if we live as long as one of our kind can live we should be able to see several generations of our family have children of their own," Spencer said. "By the time all four of us finally die, we should have great-great-great-great-grandchildren and likely several other generations after that."

"A dream of almost all werewolves," Hotch said with a grin, as he remembered all his and Spencer's pups growing up on him and getting lives of their own. The six that had come from his sister's eggs and Spencer's sperm was the last batch and soon all of them would be going away to college and getting lives of their own and while that made him a little sad and nostalgic he was also very happy that there would soon be an empty house and that it would just be him and Spencer. It had never been just him and his mate in their huge house with no children or nannies around, Hotch was looking forward to the day that he and Spencer could make love in any room of the house without having to worry about somebody coming in and seeing them making out heavily or having full blown sex right in plain view.

"Yes, it is," Anastasia murmured. "I bet the two of you are looking forward to having an empty house when your last remaining pups go to college in just a few weeks."

"We are," Hotch answered before Spencer could with a leer in his lover's direction and his mate immediately blushed a bright red.

Hotch was glad that his, Spencer still blushed so easily as he found it adorable and endearing, but it took a lot more to get him to where he would than it had used to.

"Spencer and I have never had the house all to ourselves, since I already had eight pups by the time he and I met, so it will definitely be nice to have this huge house will be almost empty without having to worry about any of the pups walking in on us at awkward moment."

"Unfortunately, we still have several years before that's possible for Anastasia and I," Thierry sighed, "since we still have pups who are only 14 and they won't be going off to college for a few years yet."

"You'll get there," Hotch said. "You had pups twice more after you gave birth to ours, so of course, you're not going to have an empty house as soon as we do."

"It can't come soon enough for me," Thierry said and Anastasia made a noise in agreement.

"As much as we love our pups, we also can't wait for them to grow up and get lives of their own so that we have plenty of alone time with our mates," Anastasia commented and the other three people in the room totally agreed with that.

"So tomorrow's the big day," Spencer said. "It doesn't seem like it's been 18 years already since our sextuplets were born."

"No, it definitely doesn't," Hotch said that Anastasia and Thierry immediately agreed.

"I know that Algie has been waiting anxiously for this day since he's a couple years older then Jenny is and refused to go to college until Jenny went and I can't really blame him for that, as he would want to go only when his mate was ready to go as well," Thierry admitted. "You know it's kind of lucky that there is only a couple years between them instead of 4 or 5, because Algie has been waiting long enough for his life to truly start, even though he and Jenny still spent a great deal of time together, it's not the same as being married and on your own."

"Yes, Jenny has been waiting anxiously to reach her 18th birthday so that she and Algie can officially be together, even if they've been dating since she was 15 and he was 17," Spencer said.

"Dating isn't the same as being old enough to be married and officially on your own, even if you are also going to be in college," Hotch said. "They'll have their own little apartment that is just for the two of them and they won't need to have any adult supervision. This is where their lives truly start, as they won't be just dating anymore, but officially man and wife. They won't have to separate and go back to their separate houses and their separate beds, which is a big thing for Lifemates."

"I hadn't thought about it quite like that," Anastasia mused thoughtfully, "but you're right this is where our two children's lives truly start."

"All four of us really have been mated so long that it just didn't occur to us," Hotch said. "Think back to when you were first mated and had sex with each other for the first time and I think you'll begin to understand how Algie and Jennifer feel and why they are so anxious to tie the Knot."

"Yes, yes, I can see what you mean now," Thierry said, as he hadn't thought of it quite like that.

"You know it's kind of sad that they won't get much of a honeymoon," Anastasia said. "Since they married at the end of summer and college starts in just a few weeks."

"Yes, well unfortunately, Jenny's 18 birthday was only last week and since she couldn't be legally married without parental consent until she turned the big 1 8 that's just the way it worked out in this case," Spencer said. "I feel sorry for them really, but Aaron and I never really got a honeymoon either, as going to Las Vegas to deal with a few problems doesn't really count, even if we managed to see some of the sites and have fun at the same time. It didn't matter to me though, that the two of us never got a honeymoon, because so long as Aaron and I were together than I was happy."

"Yes, well you've always been easy to please," Hotch teased him. "The two of us did take days off here and there, but we haven't been able to do much traveling, except when we were working and in those cases we weren't there for pleasure. However, since I have to retire in a few years Spencer and I can do some traveling, see the world, though I know we'll still spend plenty of time with our children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, our jobs were such that it was difficult to take time off because neither Spencer or I liked to leave the team in the lurch, in other words, shorthanded."

"We're both workaholics anyway, so we didn't mind so much so long as we got time off here and there in order to recharge," Spencer said. "I'm sure Jenny and Algie will be so happy to finally be married and to get to spend the next couple of days in the honeymoon suite at Ritz-Carlton hotel that we are giving them as a wedding present it will likely be enough for the two of them before they head off to college and the rest of their lives. They can always take their honeymoon at the summer break if they like."

"It was really generous of you to give Algie and Jenny a couple of days in the honeymoon suite at the Ritz-Carlton as I know that must not have been cheap," Anastasia said.

"They deserved it for having to wait so long and besides, it's only money," Hotch shrugged nonchalantly. "Normally, Spencer and I don't splurge, except very occasionally when we go to a nice restaurant or stay in a five-star hotel. However, what's the point of having money if you don't spend some of it to do something nice for your daughter and her intended? I mean we've all known this day was coming ever since Jenny was two years old and Algie was four. Even if I didn't have my inheritance from both my parents, Spencer and I have made plenty of money over the years to afford a couple of nights in the honeymoon suite of a five-star hotel. Everything's been paid for in advance and they can eat at any of the restaurants and even shop a little if they want as they do have a gift shop."

"I doubt very much that either one of them will be thinking about shopping or even eating," Thierry snorted. "I know that Anastasia and I didn't leave the bed for couple of days after we were first mated, except for necessary things like the bathroom, although we did eventually get up and get ourselves some food. It was just a quick meal though, more for the energy it would give us so we could continue what we had been doing and then it was straight back to bed."

"You're right about that, but they still have the choice," Hotch shrugged not at all embarrassed by how the conversation was going, although Spencer was beet red. "They might just decide to order room service and not take advantage of one of the restaurants and I certainly won't blame them if they do."

"None of us would," Spencer said, as he remembered the first time he and Aaron had made love.

"It's getting late and Thierry and I should probably head home as we have to be up early tomorrow to finish the last little details for the wedding," Anastasia said.

"Yeah, Spencer and I should probably go to bed too," Hotch agreed calmly, although Spencer could immediately tell by looking into his mate's eyes that the two of them would not be going to sleep even if they were gong to bed and he was looking forward to it. Even though Aaron Hotchner was well over 50 and nearing 60 he still had the energy of a 30 year old. That was at least partly, because he kept himself in shape and used the gym that was on one of the upper levels frequently, but it also had to do with the fact that he was a werewolf, and he wasn't even halfway through his normal lifespan yet. He still had a lot of good years ahead of him before he would be too old to make love all night long and Spencer wasn't about to discourage his mate from fucking him senseless, since he couldn't anyway so he didn't bother to try. Besides, he would have to be crazy to do that since he enjoyed those sessions just as much as Aaron did, and he definitely wasn't crazy.

"We'll see you tomorrow at the church," Spencer said, as he and Hotch escorted their guests to the door.

"Tomorrow," Thierry said shaking both men's hands while Anastasia hugged them both kissing their cheeks.

"I'm looking forward to us officially becoming family," Anastasia said in her soft musical voice.

"We've been family for years," Hotch told her gently, "ever since you and Thierry were so generous to agree to carry our pups for us and even before then you were good friends. Tomorrow it will be official, but I want you know that Spencer and I have considered you family for almost two decades now."

"As have we. We'll see you tomorrow at the church," Thierry said, as he took his wife's arm and led her to their car.

"Tomorrow," Spencer agreed, as he shut the door once the Delacroixs had left.

"Now that our company has gone I want you upstairs! Now!" Hotch barked sounding ferocious, but Spencer knew this was just his mate being playful and so he obeyed immediately.

"I want you totally naked when I get there laying on the bed with a pillow under your hips," Hotch called after his lover who had instantly skedaddled towards the stairs in order to obey his Alpha's barked command.

~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~

Hotch smiled as he watched his mate skedaddle up the stairs and knew that he would be waiting exactly as ordered. This was a game that the two often played the Alpha and the submissive and since they both still enjoyed it, even after all these years, why bother to stop? The two of them had played variations on the same theme on multiple occasions over the last 25 years and at this point they knew each other so well that they knew when one of them was being serious or playful or was sad, angry happy or excited, just by reading each others expressions and body language, though the emotional link they had between them helped.

Hotch headed upstairs a mere two minutes after Spencer had disappeared and was in the bedroom less than a minute later.

Hotch doubted that he would ever stop wanting his mate so long is he had breath in his body as he loved Spencer with every atom of his soul and he knew the younger man felt the same way about him.

His mate had changed so much from the shy 23 year old as he had known as he had matured in a lot of ways in the last 25 years. Of course, he knew that being part of the BAU had helped with that as had their relationship and just living life, gaining experience.

Hotch saw immediately that Spencer was ready for him and so he stalked towards the bed and with a growl said, "You are mine! Mine! My mate! My soul! My husband! My property! I own you heart, body and soul! Every single inch of you belongs to me!"

"Yes, everything that I am belongs to you," Spencer agreed his voice steady, since he knew that Aaron wasn't really upset at him and was just playing a game, one that both of them always enjoyed. The two of them would likely spend until tomorrow in bed until it was time for their daughter's wedding at noon.

"You better never forget it," Hotch growled again, as he continued to stalked towards the bed.

"I belong to you," Spencer repeated and held at his arm gesturing his mate to come and take him, while also baring his throat to his Alpha in a gesture of submission.

The wolf in Hotch, which had temporarily taken over recognized the gesture immediately as his submissive mate giving into him carte blanche to do whatever he liked, so the wolf within Aaron Hotchner subsided and this time the man slowly walked to the bed and climbed on top of his mate.

"I love you so much, Spencer. Now that our pups are all grown up and will be heading off to college in a few weeks we'll have the house all to ourselves for the first time since we met."

"I know," Spencer said leaning up and giving his mate a tender, heartstopping kiss on the lips. "Believe me, I've been looking forward to it as we can now make love anytime we want without one of the kids coming in and finding us in a rather compromising position. I am yours and I have been since we found each other when I was just 23."

"I know it," Hotch said softly, as he continued kissing his mate all over his throat and the side of his neck. "The wolf in me knows it too, but enjoys these games we play."

"I do too," Spencer said, "as does the wolf in me."

"I know that to for if you didn't we wouldn't have kept playing them for so many years. It is the Alpha's job to take care of his more submissive mate and if you didn't enjoy the dominant/submissive games we often play then I wouldn't do it. It is Alpha's responsibility to make sure that their partner gets enjoyment out of the sexual act as well and this is especially true of Lifemates. In other words, if I was the only one that was enjoying the dominant/submissive game and I still made you play then I wouldn't be treating you as an equal, which would mean I saw you as nothing more than a fuck partner, whose needs I didn't care about. As not only the Alpha of this relationship, but your Lifemate, that means that your needs come before my own and I take my responsibilities very seriously as you know "

"I knew that already," Spencer told Hotch quietly. "Even though it's never been spoken of you have more than proved over the years that you care about my needs as well as your own and I figured that it was an Alpha thing, although I didn't think that it might also be due to the fact that we were Lifemates as well. You've never done anything to deliberately harm me in all the years we've been together, except for the times you've had spank me for serious disobedience and since I understand that discipline is sometime required and necessary I didn't hold it against you no matter how sore I was."

"You haven't required me to spank you for a number of years now," Hotch said with a little smile of remembrance.

"Thirteen years, five months, four days," Spencer informed Hotch with a smile, causing his mate to laugh as he should have known that Reid would know that number of years down to the exact number of days since he'd last been spanked. He wouldn't be surprised if his mate knew to the exact minute when his last punishment had been. "I learned my lesson and I do my best never to piss you off that badly."

"You only piss me off as you put it when you do something extremely stupid that deliberately puts your life in danger," Hotch said, "as you know by now. I'm talking about deliberately putting your life in danger and not the normal danger that goes along with the job as that kind of danger can't be helped and often pops up unexpectedly."

"Yes, I know, which is why you've never punished me when we got into a fire fight or chasing a suspect and I didn't have anything to do with deliberately putting my life on the line. Of course, the sex afterwards just from the rather intense emotions of you worrying about me and me worrying about you is always spectacular and mindblowing."

"It is indeed," Hotch agreed immediately with a shit-eating grin. "It has to do with the bond and the need to confirm that your mate is still with you after they've been in a rather dangerous situation, through no fault of their own. The adrenaline, of course, helps with that too, although in our case that's mostly worn off by the time we get around to making love, since we are usually only able to fuck each other once we get home and not while in bed in some strange hotel."

"Well, whether or not the adrenaline has worn off or not those sessions are still mindblowing, spectacular and any other descriptive phrases I can come up with," Spencer said with a large grin. "Our sex life never gets boring because you've always been very… inventive in bed."

"You know by now that I've always had a very vivid imagination in that area," Hotch said with a lecherous smirk.

"Well, you certainly put it to good use over the years," Spencer said "and I certainly don't mind."

"That's been obvious since beginning, since I can't imagine you agreeing to spend so much time in bed considering your rather prodigal mind if you didn't enjoy yourself so much," Hotch said.

"You're right of course, if I didn't enjoy staying in bed so much making wild passionate love with you there's no way you could convince me to do it, as I used to spend all my free time reading or studying as that used to be my way to let off steam and relax. Now, while I still do a great deal of that, I spend more time in bed then I ever imagined I would and enjoy it. Part that I know has to do with the bond, but still if you weren't so damn handsome and still make me drool after all these years, charismatic and convincing I would never spend so much time in bed. Of course, the fact that the sex is out of this world is a large factor as well."

"I'm damn handsome?" Hotch asked amused since his mate rarely cussed.

"Yes, ever since we met you've caused my body to have reactions to you that I never even knew existed before then. Oh, I knew theoretically how a body was supposed to react to someone they found attractive, I just never applied those things to me, because I figured I'd remain a virgin for the rest of my life, until you came along and blew that notion out of the water. The first time we faced each other in your office all those years ago now you set off a series of reactions within my body and I didn't even realize what was happening at first, since I had never had such a strong reaction to anybody else. Sure, I'd had a few minor crushes before we met, but those crushes wouldn't've have given a kid like me the time of day, so I never said anything to any of them and just let myself get over those crushes on my own. Now, I realize that a werewolf releases pheromones from their scent ducts at the back of the ears, the tip of the tail, on the cheeks near the corners of the mouth and at the top of the anus and when we met that's exactly what happened, which let both of us know that we had found our mate. I've since figured that my body must've done that automatically because I definitely didn't deliberately try to attract you."

"Oh, yes, you're exactly right," Hotch said his eyes distant in remembrance. "If you had been paying attention and not been so terrified of me you would have smelled the pheromones that were so thick in the air that they nearly choked me. I knew immediately that we were Lifemates and would be extremely close, just because of the thickness of the pheromones in the air. There're different levels of Lifemate bonds and I knew by how many pheromones both of us were releasing that we'd be extremely close, even for mates and that has since proven true. You know now, that when we've found our mates that we automatically release our pheromones from our anus's, in order to get their attention as our inner wolf just knows when you have found the one for you."

"Like what happened with Algie and Jenny," Spencer said and Hotch nodded in agreement.

"They didn't realize it at the time that's what they were doing, since they were only two and four years old and they wouldn't begin formal lessons for years," said Hotch.

"Yeah, it was really nice of Anastasia and Thierry to tutor our children in their formal lessons since they had more free time than we did," Spencer said. "Well, the sextuplets anyway."

"That's what packs do and that's help each other," Hotch said. "I'm not saying it wasn't nice of them, just that's how packs are supposed to act around each other, not as if they're an inconvenience. In any case, you were unconsciously releasing those pheromones as I was, although you didn't, even know what you were doing until I explained it to you sometime later."

"Well, I knew that wolves had scent ducts, but it never occurred to me that I could have those same glands since I considered myself mostly human at that point in my life," Spencer shrugged. "I just never made the connection, even though I know I probably should have, but to me being a wolf was just one more reason William Reid left and why Mack Burke threw Dylan, Trev and I out of the pack. I figured if I had been human that there would have been no ranks of Alpha, Beta and Omega, because humans don't really have ranks, at least not formalized, except in the military, and those are just given ranks as you advance, not essentially what a person is, by the force of their personality.

"I thought that maybe if we were completely human, with no rank designation William Reid wouldn't have left. I realize now, that I was wrong and that William Reid still would have left and that my rank as an Omega and Dylan's and Trev's rank as stronger Betas then our former father was only one of a multitude of excuses to leave, but not the cause.

"I also believed at the time that if the three of us hadn't been werewolves that we would've had an easier time of it, even if we had to go into foster care. I thought that being partly wolf was just an inconvenience, and never caused anything but trouble.

"I'm older now though and hopefully, wiser and you helped me realize that it wasn't the wolf in me that was causing the problem it was William Reid that didn't love his own family enough to stick around and also the former Alpha of the Las Vegas pack. It wasn't really my status as an Omega or my intelligence or my clumsiness when it came to sports that was the cause of William Reid's evidential departure, those were just excuses nothing more," Spencer finished.

"I'm glad you realize that," Hotch said softly. "William Reid no longer matters and neither does Burke since both are dead and they both richly deserved their fate. I'm only sorry that I didn't get to deal with Burke myself and that he had been dead for five years, which was years before we had met."

"Make love to me, Aaron," Spencer begged, suddenly feeling the need to have the tender, loving touch of his mate stroking him to completion or nibbling on some part of his body leaving him with multiple bruises, which he didn't mind since they faded in just a few days and he knew Aaron looked on the bruises while they lasted as a sign of his ownership of everything that he was, just like the permanent mating mark on the side of his neck. "I want to feel your cock inside my body and feel your gentle, tender touch that turns me into a quivering mass of jelly every time."

"I will never deny you, when you need me to show you love," Hotch said gently, as he began to run gentle hands up and down his mate's still gorgeous body. It didn't matter at all that Spencer was in his 40s, his body was still simply gorgeous in his eyes and just looking at his mate naked like this brought up a depth of feeling that Hotch had never known he possessed until Spencer had come into his life all those years ago. His lover was still in excellent shape just as he was as both still used the exercise equipment upstairs frequently and also went running in their wolf forms as much as time allowed in the nearby forest and the two of them had made out in the woods more than once over the years.

"You never deny me anyway when I want you to make love to me, no matter what your mood is," Spencer teased and Hotch grinned at him.

"You know by now and that I'm always in the mood for fucking you senseless and that's never going to change as long as I'm alive and I don't care if I do live to be a 150, I'll always enjoy making love to you, whether that's rough, tender or anything in between."

"And I'll always enjoy you doing it too, so why don't we get started?" Spencer suggested baring his neck in a gesture of submission.

"As you wish," Hotch murmured, as he began to suck on one of his mate's nipples, which perked up immediately in reaction to his ministrations.

"Oh, that feels so good," Spencer whimpered, as the pleasure went through him as strong as a lightning bolt just from Aaron sucking on his nipple. His body had always responded strongly to his mate's attentions and that had not changed one iota in all the years they had been together. In fact, if truth be known his body responded even more strongly now after 25 years of being together than it had in the beginning, as he remembered that time very well due to his eidetic memory, but Spencer knew that was due to the fact that Aaron knew his body inside and out and how he responded to various techniques.

Of course, Aaron should know his body considering they had spent so much time making love over the years. Aaron was a very imaginative and prolific lover and he had no problem having at least a dozen climaxes in a night when they were in the mood. Spencer knew intellectually that was probably at least partly due the fact that his mate was not only an Alpha male, but also a werewolf, as he couldn't imagine a human man, Alpha or not, being able to get it up so many time in one night no matter the motivation or how vital he was. Of course, he always came quite a few times during those sessions as well, so many he always lost count.

"More! More Aaron! I want to feel your cock inside me. I want you to dump your seed into my body!" Spencer cried finally wriggling enticingly underneath his Alpha, making himself even more tempting then he already was as he was unable to take anymore of the slow torture that Aaron was putting him through, as he felt as if his entire body was electrified as if attached to a live wire and that he was slowly being burned alive from the inside out.

"Your wish is my command," Hotch said smilingly, as he positioned his cock at his mate's entrance. "I'm always happy to give into you when it comes to this kind of thing as you know by this time. Of course, I could torture you for the next hour or two if I was really in the mood and you would thank me afterwards, but since I want you as badly at the moment as you do me, I'm happy to give into your wishes this time."

What Hotch said was true as his cock was so engorged that his sperm was leaking out of the tip at a steady rate of speed and soaking the sheets, that were between Spencer's opened legs. Sheets could be washed, but if Aaron didn't enter him soon he was going to explode and leave a mess behind.

Hotch started placing kisses, licks and nips along his mate's stomach while at the same time he gently inserted his cock into Spencer anus, it was going to be painful, because he didn't have time to use any lube, which happened fairly frequently as he wanted his lover that badly.

Spencer didn't bother to protest about not using lube, as it was not exactly an unusual occurrence and he enjoyed a little pain, because the pleasure was always more explosive afterwards. Since there would always be a little pain involved, because they were two men having sex, lube or not and even though the pain was worse without it he was more than capable of putting up with it as it faded quickly, never lasting very long. Besides, the pleasure that came after the pain was so much more intense and explosive that he really didn't mind the pain at all.

Besides, Aaron had ways of distracting him from the pain when he didn't use lube and his normal method was to place kisses, licks and even a few nips along other parts of his body in order to distract him from the momentary and short lived pain.

Finally Hotch exploded into his mate's tight passage and Spencer came at almost exactly the same time, his cock exploding with thick ropes of his seed all over his stomach and the sheets of the bed. Some of his seed even landed on his mate since Aaron was only inches above him. His Alpha never seemed to mind though and in fact, seemed to love being covered in his mate's seed.

"I love you, Aaron," Spencer told his mate quietly as soon as he had recovered from his earthshattering climax.

"I love you too," Hotch told the younger man kissing the side of his neck, breathing in his scent. "We had better get some sleep now, as much as I'd like to make love to you all night long as we don't want to miss our daughter's wedding. She'd kill us if we did."

"Now that's the truth," Spencer laughed.

Their daughter Jenny was definitely an Alpha female, which she got from Aaron via his sister Arissa, since it was her eggs that had been used, but then again so was Algie. It wasn't unusual to have two Alphas as mates, although one was always weaker in personality, even if it wasn't by very much or very obvious who was in charge as you would have to know both Jenny and Algie to know who was actually the leader of their relationship. However, both Jenny's and Algie's personalities matched extremely well, but that wasn't surprising considering they had been mates ever since they were two and four years old and had met that first time. Basically, they had grown up together, so tomorrow the two of them would be walking down the aisle to make it official.

"She's definitely your daughter, a very strong Alpha female," Spencer added with a laugh and a smile.

"She has a lot of your personality traits to," Hotch said not disagreeing about the fact that his and Spencer's daughter was a very strong Alpha female. "She has your compassion, your kindness and can often put things together just the way you can in much less time then most other people. I know she's never had an IQ test done, but I wouldn't be surprised to discover that it was at least near yours."

"That's likely considering that the teachers wanted her to skip grades and we wouldn't let her, because of the hell that me and my brothers went through when we did, but really she just breezed through elementary, junior high and high school and I have no doubt she'll breeze through college as well and might even get more than one degree like I did. Of course, I can't see her staying in college after Algie completes his degree, so if she can get two degrees in that amount of time I'll be very pleased if that's what she decides to do."

"It's possible that she could get her bachelors as well as her masters and that's usually at least 10 years of college, but she could probably do it in five or six since I do believe she's truly that intelligent."

"Well, unlike me and my brothers anyway she'll have a husband to do fun things with when they're not studying and the money to do them," Spencer said.

"You know she's planning to be a lawyer like I was before I joined the FBI and she certainly has the intelligence and the temperament for it." Hotch said. "The way to be a success as a lawyer is to be aggressive and never let criminals off, just because you're afraid of death threats and she's definitely that when she needs to be."

"I just hope she doesn't decide to join the FBI, because there is no way that she's going to be happy being separated from Algie for any length of time," Spencer said. "Besides, she might get posted somewhere far away and I'd rather her stay in the Virginia/Washington area so that we can see each other frequently, well, as frequently as time allows."

"There are positions within the FBI that won't require her to travel," Hotch pointed out.

"I know, but there are no guarantees that she'd be posted close to home," Spencer said. "It's bad enough that some of the pups have moved to other cities, but after we retire we can visit them, but right now we don't see them very much."

"Pups grow up and get their own lives," Hotch said philosophically. "It's the way that things have always been since the beginning of human civilization. Parents might not like their pups moving so far away, but the good ones let them go when it is time."

"I know, but it's still a major hit to my heart," Spencer said. "You just love your children so much that a lot of parents have trouble letting them go, but you're also very good at distracting me, so that I don't dwell on them too much."

"I miss the ones that have moved away to, but they have a right to their own lives and the careers they chose, well, they just got positions that weren't close to home that's all. At least they'll be here for the wedding tomorrow."

"Yes, and some of them have been here for a few days so at least we got to spend sometime with the ones that are coming just for the wedding, which was really nice," Spencer said.

"Yeah, I enjoyed it," Hotch said smiling kissing the side of his mate's neck. "We really need to go to to sleep though."

"You're right," Spencer agreed sleepily. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight," Hotch said with a smile giving the younger man one final kiss before closing his eyes and curling as close to Spencer as he could get before he dropped into sleep.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**


	29. Chapter 29

Part 29

"Ready?" Hotch asked daughter with a smile.

Jenny looked absolutely stunning, with her long black hair up in a chignon and her golden brown eyes filled with happiness and excitement. She was wearing a white wedding dress that was traditional for all brides, but at it only went to just past the knees in that way it was definitely nontraditional. Also Jenny had opted out of using of veil, which wasn't really all that unusual in recent decades. On her feet she wore white shoes made out of the same material as the dress and that was cool linen considering it was the end of summer and quite hot. Around her neck she wore a string of pearls that had been a high school graduation present from Hotch and Spencer just recently and around her wrist was a delicate gold bracelet from Algie her fiancé along with her engagement ring. Jenny had gone for simple when it came to getting ready for her's and Algie's wedding as she felt that she didn't need all the pomp and ceremony that a lot of brides went for as that just wasn't her and so she had also dressed simply.

"More than ready," Jenny answered her eyes sparkling. "I've been ready for this day for long time."

"I know," Hotch said quietly. "Spencer and I were well aware that you were more than ready to get married, by the time you were about 14."

"Try 12, dad," Jenny told him with the little grin. "I know Algie was only 14 at the time, but both of us were more than ready to get started on our lives together even though you still saw us as pups. In my case I had just hit the teenage years, but you know I was more mature at 12, then most females are at 18 even if our gender matures faster then boys do.

"Well," Hotch huffed in amusement. "I knew you were very mature for your age, but to me you were still my little girl and your papa's little princess."

"I'll always be your little girl dad, and papa's little princess, but my life is with Algie now and has been ever since I was two years old," Jenny told her father.

"I know," Hotch said looking sad. "I know."

"You don't have to worry about me dad I'll be be just fine with Algie," Jenny told her father gently leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

"I'll always worry about you," Hotch told her, "and so will Spencer, as you are and always will be our daughter and it is a parents prerogative to worry about their pups whether or not they are grown up. Both of us will miss you while you're away college just like we missed all our pups when they grew up and went off to college and then moved away."

"Algie and I will be back to visit frequently," Jenny promised.

"And Spencer and I will be visiting when I have to retire in a few years," Hotch added leaning down to kiss his daughter's cheek

"So papa is retiring at the same time?" asked Jenny knowing how close her dad and her papa were, which wasn't surprising considering the two of them were Lifemates just like her and Algie. Jenny knew that there was no way that her papa would continue to work and be gone out of town so much with her dad being retired. Jenny knew that her papa would never be able to do his job with his mate so far away, so it was a foregone conclusion that her papa would be retiring at the same time. Even if he could continue to work with a BAU for another 12 years, he wouldn't do it and would take early retirement instead.

Papa and dad were really two words for the same thing, but she and her siblings had had to have two different names for the two different men that had been their parents.

"You know all about mates and how they have difficulty being parted for so long a time," Hotch reminded his beautiful daughter gently.

"I know, I had already figured out for myself that papa would be retiring at the same time you were. It was a rhetorical question, dad," Jenny teased him.

Just then the traditional wedding march started and so Hotch didn't have a chance to reply so instead he said taking her gently by the arm. "Let's go, so you can get married to Algie. I know he's waiting anxiously for you."

"Well, I'm definitely not going to leave him standing at the altar," Jenny said sounding just a little nervous and Hotch kissed cheek and soothed her gently.

"No, need to be nervous, that young man loves you with everything that he is, just as I know you love him."

"I do, so much," Jenny said standing up a little straighter.

"All you have to do is walk down that aisle on my arm, Algie's waiting on you," Hotch said.

"Let's go," Jenny said in a much more confident voice.

Hotch and Jenny started down the aisle, which wasn't all that long and just a minute later Hotch was gently putting his daughter's hand in Algie's before going to take a seat beside his mate in the front row.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..."

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

"It was a beautiful ceremony," Spencer said softly, as he and Aaron twirled around the dance floor.

The two of them were not the only ones dancing in the Fahrenheit Ballroom, in fact most of their guest were, although the number had had to be limited to just over a hundred, but that was fine with both Jenny and Algie, as they didn't even know a hundred people that they wanted to invite to this rather intimate ceremony. Rolf and his mate were of course, there, as was the team Garcia was dancing with Morgan, while Emily had gotten married a few years ago and was dancing with her husband. Dave and JJ were also dancing, although they were nothing but friends as neither had ever married.

Dylan and Trevyn were here as well and both had finally married over 10 years for one and 12 years for the other, although neither of the women they were married to were their Lifemates, but were werewolves themselves. Both couples seemed happy and that was all that mattered.

All of Thierry and Anastasia's and Hotch's and Spencer's children were here to see their siblings get married, and between the Delacroixs and the Reid-Hotchners there was quite a few pups even if they were all grown up now or mostly anyway, except for some of Thierry and Anastasia's who still had a few years to go before they would be heading off to college. By the time you counted everyone they just about filled the ballroom as there was 106 of them between dates and invited guests.

On one side of the room there was a long table groaning with every food imaginable.

The reception was being held in the Ritz-Carlton the same hotel, that Jenny and Algie were going to spend the next couple of days in the honeymoon suite.

"Yes, it was," Hotch agreed, as he gazed into the face of his mate, which had aged some since they had met, but that was to be expected and it didn't matter to him for his, Spencer was still the most handsome man he had ever known. He knew he had aged as well and that it didn't matter to his mate either. "After Jenny and Algie spend a couple of nights here after the reception, they'll be heading almost directly to college to look for an apartment, since it starts in a few weeks."

"Yeah, I know and I know they need to have lives of their own, but I'm going to miss them, both of them, since Algie has been a son to us for years."

"Jenny, did promise to call at least once a week," Hotch reminded his mate trying a cheer him up, as he sounded so melancholy and he needed to cheered up as this was supposed to be a happy day. "Just think of it as not losing a daughter, but gaining a son officially instead of unofficially."

"Yeah, you're right, I need to cheer up. I know Jenny and Algie will keep in contact with us just like all like all our children do," Spencer said

"Besides, you have to remember that the two of them have been waiting for this day for many years, ever since they started dating, I'm sure the time passed extremely slowly for them as they waited to turn 18 and 20 respectively."

"Yeah, that's true," Spencer admitted. "I know they didn't say anything, but I could tell that they couldn't wait until this day to came and I can't really blame them."

"No, definitely not because they've known this day was coming sense Jenny was about eight years old," Hotch said. "Let's stop talking about it now and just enjoy ourselves as that's what this day is all about, seeing our daughter and new son-in-law tie the Knot."

Spencer said nothing, but kissed Hotch's cheek to let him know that the matter was dropped for the moment and the two of them continued to dance to several songs before finally going and sitting down and getting something to eat.

"This is a great party," Morgan said joining them a few minutes later. "It's hard to believe that Jenny and Algie are all grown up and Jenny's siblings to of course."

"Believe me, I know," Spencer said with a grimace. "I know our daughter is 18, but I just want her to go back to being the little girl I knew and her siblings to, even if I know that's not possible."

"He's just a little sad that the last of our children are all grown up," Hotch explained to Morgan and the big black man nodded solemnly, but with humor twinkling in his dark eyes.

"I can kind of understand how you feel since I've known Jenny, her brothers and sisters since they were infants. I'm sad too that all them are grown up, but it's not like we could stop time in order to prevent our children from growing up on us."

"I know," Spencer said. "It doesn't prevent me from wishing that I could though."

"He'll be okay in a few days, as this is the way he was the last time our children turned 18, which really wasn't all that long ago, just a few years," Hotch said. "Right now all he needs is a distraction and once he gets back to work on Monday he'll be fine."

"Yeah, I know he will be," Morgan agreed ruffling his friend's hair affectionately.

"Stop that," Spencer ordered him not really meaning it and Morgan knew it.

"So I'm surprised that you allowed Jenny to get married this when she's heading off to college," Morgan commented.

"Jenny is 18 and believe me, the word allow doesn't even enter into it," Hotch reminded Morgan with a grin. "Spencer and I had a tough enough time convincing her to wait until she was 18 as you can get married at 16 or 17 so long as you have parental consent. Spencer and I refused to sign that consent and she was mad at us for over a month before she finally forgave us. Jenny has a very strong personality and she takes after me more than Spencer in that way and she definitely knows what she wants. One of the things she wanted was to marry Algie as soon as possible, so there was no way that we could've stopped her from getting married now that she's of legal age to do so. They're both going to the same college and will be sharing an apartment instead of living in the dorms. We all have to realize that Jenny is all grown up now and we have no control over her actions anymore. Algie also refused to go to college until Jenny could to and he's two years older."

"Wow! That's true love," Morgan commented looking astonished and amazed as such a love as Jenny's and Algie's was really very rare.

"Yes, it is," Spencer said not bothering to mention that the two of them were Lifemates just like him and Aaron were, since the team still didn't know about werewolves and that they were actually real, instead of fictional. "They've known each other since Jenny was two years old which meant Algie was four. Thierry and Anastasia, Algie's parent's were good friends of ours before that, so it only seemed natural that we introduce our children to each other."

"They've been really close ever since they met and then they fell in love when they got older," Hotch added with a nonchalant shrug, "and I couldn't think of a better man for her then Algie. He'll treat her right, as I've known that boy all his life and he's a good, gentle young man. He and Jenny will be very happy together."

"What about children though?" asked Morgan. "Aren't you worried that Jenny will get pregnant and drop out of college? I'm mean it happens all the time to young people with their hormones being so active."

"No," Spencer said shaking his head. "They promised to wait until after they graduate college, though I won't expect them to wait much longer than that. Jenny is way too sensible to allow herself to get pregnant until she's ready, as she's a lot like Aaron in that way. Algie, to for that matter. Both know now is not the time to give Aaron and I more grandchildren."

"And like you to as you were always a very sensible and cautious as a child," Hotch added.

"Alright, so she gets her sensible side from both of us," Reid said with a smile.

Morgan shook his head, for although he was used to Hotch and Reid being a couple by this time as well he should be considering they'd been together for 25 years, it was still rather strange to see them together, even though he knew that they were both happy in their relationship and if they hadn't been they would've gotten a divorce a long time ago. Instead they had gone through the IVF process and had six more children to add to the 12 they already had and despite their jobs raised a wonderful family. Morgan still wasn't sure how they'd done it considering that they were gone to some strange city nearly weekly, but their older children were happy in their careers and well-adjusted. Some were even married. And since the younger ones were the same way, maybe they just came from good genes or something. Morgan had always felt that being FBI agent, especially ones that traveled a great deal was hell on love lives and families and yet his two friends had managed to stay together and be were happy with each other, as he hadn't noticed any kind of strain in their relationship, not even in the beginning.

"There's no way we could've gotten Jenny to wait until after college or Algie for that matter as both know exactly what they want and that's to be together while they're enjoying their college experience," Spencer said. "I'll tell you now that if Aaron and I had been around the same age and we had fallen in love as teenagers then I guarantee you I would have married him when I turned 18 and we would've been sharing an apartment together while going to college. Jenny was just as lucky as me and Aaron at finding someone she loves more than anything and I see nothing wrong with her and Algie being together so long as they can still concentrate on their college classes and get good grades and I have no doubt that either of them will do that."

"Really, this is a good thing, because Algie and Jenny have known each other for so long they will be able to avoid a lot of the normal pitfalls that come with any new relationship, because they both know each other extremely well, because they've been friends for a long time. Algie was already practically another son to us anyway and now it's just official."

"I would say so if they met when Jenny was two," Morgan commented. "I would think they'd be like brother and sister considering they grew up together, instead of them falling in love and getting married."

"It just didn't work out that way," Spencer said with a shrug.

And the reason why that is because the two of them were made to spend the rest of their lives together thanks to them being Lifemates. Jenny and Algie were two of the lucky ones that had found their perfect match and even luckier to have found each other so young.

"Well, I think it's time for Spencer and I to get back out on the dance floor," Hotch finally said after a few more minutes of chatting with Morgan. "We just needed a few minutes to rest our feet."

Spencer rose to his feet and told Morgan goodbye before he and Aaron went back out to the dance floor to continue dancing. Morgan watched them go and watched how smoothly they moved together as Hotch held Spencer in his arms and guided the younger man around the floor and how Reid followed Hotch's lead easily.

Morgan considered it something of a miracle that the two of them were still together after all these years, simply because of the stresses of their jobs. He had truly thought in the beginning that Spencer and Hotch would break up after a year or two at most, but that had never occurred, and as far as he knew the two of them had never even come close to breaking up. Morgan supposed it helped that they worked together on the same team, as he was sure that if they didn't work together, their relationship probably wouldn't have lasted. Alright, call it what it was and that was a marriage as they had been legally wed quite a few years ago shortly after Strauss had been blown up.

Morgan thought about that and then came to the startling realization that if they hadn't worked together it was extremely likely that whichever one was working with the BAU would have quit, because the two of them were that close and Morgan couldn't see either one of them wanting to lose that. It wasn't exactly like either Reid or Hotch were unemployable elsewhere and if they hadn't already worked together he was sure that the one that worked at the BAU would have quit and taken a job that was more 9 to 5 then there current one if they were of a mind.

Morgan remembered Hotch and Spencer both saying some years ago now that if one of them was fired or some idiot tried to transfer one of them to another department that they would both quit and get other jobs. All they wanted was to be together and they weren't about to put up with being separated for three or four days every week or two just to satisfy some bureaucrat.

Morgan also remembered Hotch saying that he had inherited quite a tidy pile from his parents and so he didn't have to work for monetary reasons if he didn't desire to, but that he needed to keep busy, which is why he had a job, one that he loved. Well mostly, as Morgan couldn't imagine anyone loving all the paperwork that came with any government job, but he loved Reid more and so would quit if some idiot had tried to transfer him or Reid to another department or just fire one or both of them.

It hadn't happened, but that was only because both of his teammates had kept quiet about their relationship in those early years and in fact had until Strauss had been killed in that explosion. Morgan wasn't sure if they ever would've come out of the closet so to speak and been more open about their relationship in front of anyone, except the team if Strauss hadn't been killed, but Morgan supposed it didn't really matter one way or the other.

Hotch and Reid were a surprisingly good match, as both were intelligent, tended to be on the serious side, were also sensible and both had a core of honor that would never allow them to look the other way if they saw a crime of some sort. Their consciences would never allow them to be on the take, in other words, accept a bribe and both had airtight ethics. From what he knew of their childhood both had come from abusive homes, so it wasn't really so amazing that both Hotch and Reid were so similar in many ways. The two of them got along splendidly and there was rarely any friction between them or at least none that he could detect. He was sure though, that the two of them had arguments at least in private as every couple argued sometimes no matter how close and he knew that, even if he had never married, which his mama had been disappointed in until she had passed away a few years ago.

"So are you going to sit there like a bump on a log or get up and dance?" Garcia asked coming over to where Morgan was sitting watching Hotch and Reid out on the dance floor. "You need to quit brooding and come and enjoy yourself this is the wedding after all."

"Alright, fine," Morgan said with a smile knowing that his friend would keep pestering him until he finally gave in anyway so he might as well save himself now and just give in.

"My lady?" Morgan asked rising from his seat and offer Garcia his arm.

"Why thank you kind sir," Garcia replied and took Morgan by the arm.

Morgan led Garcia out the dance floor and the two of them began to dance slowly together.

"Think they'll ever figure out that they love each other?" Spencer asked his mate, as he watched Garcia get Morgan to go back out to the dance floor with her.

"Probably not as it's been too long now, so at this stage it's very unlikely they'll ever admit their feelings," Hotch said, as he to looked at Morgan and Garcia dancing very closely together. "Morgan is never going to settle down, he's just not the type and I didn't think I was either before I met you."

"Oh, well, it's not our problem," Spencer said with a shrug. "I feel sorry for them though, as they should've gotten together a long time ago and they would've been much happier, but you're right Morgan is determined to see Garcia has his best friend and nothing more."

"It's their choice," Hotch reminded his mate gently. "Even if we tried to tell them they had feelings for each other Morgan in particular would just dig in his heels so there's no point."

"Jenny and Algie should be leaving for the honeymoon suite soon, but at least they don't have far to go in order to get to their honeymoon destination, even if it's just for the weekend," Spencer said changing the subject.

"Why do you think that they agreed to have the wedding and reception here," Hotch smirked. "They knew that they weren't going to get much of a honeymoon due to the time it will take to find an apartment near where the are going to college and cart all the stuff they are going to take with them up there. It'll probably take at least a couple of car trips depending on what they decide to take."

"They also have to buy furniture for it unless it already comes furnished, which I think they would prefer, as it would save money and time. If they find one they like already furnished near the college they might have time to see a few of the sites before they actually start classes in a few weeks."

"Yeah, that's true, it just depends on how their time shakes out," Hotch agreed. "You know the other five will be leaving for college to in a few weeks to, although they'll be living in the dorms, since they aren't married or getting married before they go."

"I would think they'd be jealous of their sister since she gets her own apartment, because she and Algie got married before they went to college," Spencer said.

"I'm sure they're a little jealous, but they also grew up knowing that their sister and a boy they have considered their brother for years would one day get married. I know they understand that since their marriage happened before the two of them went off to college that there's no way Jenny and Algie could live in separate dorms. Really now, that they are all grown up and the bond is at full strength there's no way they could be separated for all the years that a college education takes anyway as that would drive both insane. Also you know that there's no way the college administration would allow a boy and a girl to live in the same dorm room even if they are married so an apartment is really the only choice."

"Yeah, we raised our children well," Spencer admitted.

"And unlike what with you and your brothers we tutored our pups in our history, laws and traditions or rather the Delacroixs did or at least they did the sextuplets along with their own, so unlike you they grew up understanding all about Lifemate bonds and why our laws are so strict and everything else that werewolf pups are taught from the time they are 10 or 11 until they're 18 and go away to college or just move out. Of course, some pups are able to start earlier, simply because they learn how to read sooner like you and your brothers could have if William Reid or Burke had bothered to teach you three anything that is. It's just as well that the two of them are dead and I hope sincerely that both of them are rotting in hell for all eternity."

Since his mate's opinion on this particular subject was well known Spencer didn't take offense and simply kissed Aaron on the cheek.

"Let's just enjoy the rest of the reception and see our daughter and her new husband off when they head up to the honeymoon suite. Afterwards, we can go home and I'm sure we'll go straight to sleep," Spencer suggested tiredly.

"Oh, no, I have plans," Hotch grinned.

"Aaron, I'm going request those plans wait, because right now I'm so tired all I want to do is see Jenny and Algie off and go straight to bed," Spencer requested.

Hotch looked at his mate and studied his face and noticed that Spencer did indeed look exhausted as the last few months preparing for the wedding among other things had tired him out.

"Alright, my plans can wait for another time," Hotch agreed immediately. "When you're this tired make sure you tell me as my libido isn't so out-of-control that I can't wait until you're more rested. I'm surprised I didn't notice, but it's such a rare event that I guess I wasn't paying attention. It won't happen again."

"It's fine," Spencer waved away his Alpha's apology. "So long as I get a good night's sleep I'll be right as rain."

"I think the two of us need to take a real vacation as we haven't had one in at least five years," Hotch mused. "Working at the BAU is one of the toughest jobs on the planet and I know we've taken a few long weekends, but we need a real vacation so that neither one of us burns out, even if we're both going to retire in a few years. Now that all our pups are going off to college and the house will be empty now is a good time to do it."

"It sounds wonderful," Spencer said not protesting as it really did sound like just the thing to rejuvenate the both of them. "Just you and me and whatever destination we pick."

"What about overseas?" Hotch suggested. "Italy or France."

"Sounds great, I've never been out of the States," Spencer agreed immediately.

"Then sometime soon we'll sit down and plan where to go and we'll take at least a full two weeks. I'm sure Cruz will tell us that it's about time that we decided we needed a break from work for a couple of weeks, even if neither one of us likes leaving the team shorthanded."

"You're probably right," Spencer laughed. "You know back when Strauss was still alive we never would've been able to go on a real vacation together, except for that one exception when we went to Las Vegas."

"Let's not bring up that horrible woman," Hotch growled. "I hope she too is rotting in hell along with William Reid and Burke."

Spencer said nothing, but dropped the subject of Strauss and just enjoyed dancing in Aaron's arms as his Alpha smoothly led them around the dance floor. He was looking forward to taking vacation as he and Aaron hadn't had too many of those in his years with the BAU. They'd had a few, but really the two of them were such workaholics that they only took a week's leave every three or four years and they'd never taken two weeks at one time before, well except when they had gone up to Las Vegas. Also the fact that they were going to go somewhere exotic that Spencer had never been before had him excited, as he loved learning the history of new places and he was going enjoy this vacation to the hilt if they did go somewhere like Italy as that country was full of history and there was so many places and cities to visit that they'd never see it all in just two weeks.

"Looking forward to a vacation?" Hotch murmured in his mate's ear.

"You know I am," Spencer answered just as softly, "and this is a good time to take one, because as you said there are no pups to worry about, since the youngest are heading off to college and the rest have their own lives."

"Good, as I'm looking forward to getting you alone, with no worrying about work for a couple of weeks at least. It will be just you and me with nobody interfering at a rather awkward moment," Hotch said softly.

"Yes, I'm looking forward to it," Spencer said with a smile.

The two of them continued to dance ignoring the stares of surprise and disgust for being two men in an obvious romantic relationship as both of them were well used to the stares by now and didn't really care so long as they were together and people kept their nasty comments to themselves. Of course, when they didn't, Aaron could cut them down to size with just a few words and they usually slunk off with their tail between their legs, Spencer thought with an inner smile.

The two men continued to dance closely together breathing in the scent of each others cologne lost in their own little world not caring about anybody else as so long as they were together they were content and happy. And that was all that mattered.

 **~~~The Alpha Werewolf and his Mate~~~**

 **"** **I wanted to thank you for the lovely wedding that you and Uncle Thierry and Anastasia threw me and Algie," Jenny said. "The Honeymoon Suite at the Ritz-Carlton was amazing and the bed was humongous."**

 **"** **You're quite welcome, sweetheart," Hotch said kissing his daughter on the forehead. "We're your parents and we're supposed to be able to throw you a lavish wedding, if that was what you wanted."**

 **"** **It was our pleasure," Spencer added. "You and Algie deserved it for having to wait so long to tie the Knot."**

 **"Still, thank you, I love you both," Jenny said.**

 **"** **We love you too, honey," Spencer said giving her a hug and also kissing her on the cheek.**

 **"** **I had better get going," Jenny said.**

 **"** **Make sure you call us as soon as you get there so we know you arrived safely," Spencer instructed for like the 20** **th** **time.**

 **"** **Quit worrying papa me and Algie will be fine," Jenny said trying not to roll her eyes, because she knew her papa was genuinely concerned.**

 **"** **Spencer, enough, you know Jenny and Algie will be okay," Hotch said in an Alpha tone, but softened it with a smile.**

 **Spencer stepped back and Hotch automatically put an arm around his mate's waist.**

 **"** **Papa, you're such a mother hen," Jenny scolded him kissing his cheek affectionately.**

 **"** **So live with it, as I never imagined I'd have children I could lavish my affection on," Spencer retorted, also with a smile.**

 **"** **He's done this with every set of children that have left as you know," Hotch said. "He knows that pups grow up, but that doesn't mean that he stops loving you once you are out on your own and therefore, he worries. He'll do the same thing again when you're five siblings leave in a week or so."**

 **"** **I know," Jenny said. "I really have to be going though, because Algie's waiting and though we'll be driving up to Columbia in separate cars, so we each have one, we still want to get on the road together."**

 **"** **Go on then," Hotch said, "as you don't want to keep Algie waiting."**

 **"** **I'll make sure I keep in touch," Judy promised both her fathers.**

 **"** **Make sure you do, because I'll worry less if I hear from you often," Spencer said.**

 **"** **There's no reason to worry as Jenny and Algie can take care of themselves," Hotch told Spencer who knew this.**

 **Spencer knew that his mate had taught all their children every dirty fighting trick in the book and that included Algie. That Jenny and her mate had taken it a step further and both had taken martial arts classes, because that was what they had both wanted, so the two of them were well-prepared to defend themselves if necessary.**

 **"** **I know you only worry because you love me papa, but there's no need to," Jenny said giving Spencer another kiss on the cheek. "I'll make sure to contact you as soon as Algie and me get to New York."**

 **"** **That's all I ask," Spencer said giving his daughter a hug before shooing her towards her convertible that Aaron had bought for her when she turned 16 and gotten her driver's license.**

 **"** **Love you," Jenny told the two before she started the engine.**

 **"** **We love you too, make sure you don't spend all your time with Algie make friends get, good grades," Hotch ordered her gruffly. "Don't let yourself be distracted, by the newness of your bond. It was hard even on Spencer and me and when we were much older then you and Algie are."**

 **"** **We won't," Jenny promised.**

 **Jenny waved goodbye and started to back down the driveway and Spencer and Hotch watched until she was gone.**

 **"** **So we have the rest of the day off, what do you want to do?" Hotch asked casually.**

 **"** **I know exactly what you're thinking," Spencer said, as he went into Aaron's arms willingly.**

 **"** **And what do you think I'm thinking?" Hotch teased him.**

 **"** **You're thinking that you'd like to take me up to the master bedroom and have your way with me or that we could even do it on the couch in the den because there's no one else in the house right now, since the others already had plans and they said goodbye to their sister last night," Spencer said.**

 **"** **You know me so well," Hotch said.**

 **"** **I should considering we've been mated for 2 1/2 decades now," Spencer said. "If I did not I wouldn't be very observant now, would I? You're always thinking about ways to get me into bed or at least have sex with me, even while we're working and don't think I don't know it."**

 **"** **If you tell me that the same kinds of thoughts don't run through your mind, even while we're working I'll know you're a lying," Hotch challenged him.**

 **"** **They do," Spencer admitted blushing little, "however, it's more along the lines of enticing you to have your way with my body other than coming up with scenarios as to what to do to you to give you pleasure, although there's some of those too. I mean I don't usually have to encourage you to have sex, so I suppose that just comes naturally, since you're an Alpha male and very vital and imaginative in that area. Yes, I think about such things while I'm working, but it's more my subconscious thinking about it, then my conscious mind."**

 **"** **Now that all the pups are gone at least for the night I'm going to take you out for dinner," Hotch announced suddenly, "and we can get to the fucking part of the evening after that, although I certainly won't object to a quickie or two beforehand."**

 **"** **If you did I would think you had been replaced by a clone," Spencer's snorted his amusement clear, while Hotch just grinned at him unrepentantly. "I'm sure we'll be doing even more fucking once you retire in a few years, since I'll be retiring right alongside you, even though I could be part of the unit for another 12 years after you left. However, I know I'd never be able to concentrate with you here and me in some strange city far away."**

 **"** **I'm sure you'll find a way to keep yourself occupied once we both retired," Hotch suggested Spencer nodded.**

 **"** **Dylan has already offered me a part time job with his store, where I'd get to demonstrate all the neat electronic devices. I haven't decided if I'm going to take him up on it yet or not. It would only be for a few hours every week."**

 **"** **We've been dreaming of traveling for years so we'll probably be doing a great deal of that," Hotch reminded his mate who nodded.**

 **"** **We'll have to be home for the birth of any grandchildren, but still that doesn't mean we can't travel," Spencer said.**

 **"** **Well, there's no point of worrying about it now as it still years away," Hotch said, "By the way, yes, I'm very vital and can I help it if I want you all the time because you're so sexy and handsome, even if I know most people don't agree with me? I find you absolutely irresistible and I don't bother to resist when there's no need, except at work or out in public, which is different. Besides, you never resist very hard when I want to take you to bed and make love to you whether that's fast or slow or gently or roughly."**

 **"** **How can I resist?" Spencer asked Hotch quietly, as the two of them walked towards their own front door. "When I love you so much? To me you are the most handsome and sexy man on the planet, someone who loves me for myself and not just for the sex, although I won't deny that we do a lot of that, but then all Lifemates do. Besides, I often get hard just thinking about us making love or imagining you naked and since you taught me years ago that I wasn't to relieve myself, except at work or out in public, that leaves only one option."**

 **"** **That it does," Hotch agreed with a smirk. "I've never had to teach you the same lesson twice and if I had to teach you a second time the lesson would have been much harsher, because you would have known what you were doing and still gone ahead and done it."**

 **"** **I learn my lesson the first time," Spencer said calmly kissing his mate on the cheek, as they continued to walk towards their front door.**

 **"** **That you do, that you do," Hotch agreed with an affectionate smile.**

 **Finally they entered the house and Hotch made sure to close and lock the door behind them before taking his mate fully into his arms. "So shall we make love on the couch which is very comfortable as you know or head upstairs to our bedroom?"**

 **"** **It doesn't matter to me, although the couch is closer and I'm desperate to feel your cock in me," Spencer said, as he buried his head in his mate chest. "How I can keep wanting you all the time considering how many years as we've been together I don't know, but I do. I want you practically every minute of every day and it doesn't seem to matter how many times we've made love or how many times you've entered my body I always want more."**

 **"** **It's only natural for a couple who still loves each other as much as we do," murmured Hotch, as he placed several gentle kisses on his mate's still dark brown hair. "Lifemates never stop making love no matter how old they get and they often die in bed together or if they don't one dies and the other usually does shortly afterwards."**

 **"** **I think I'd like that," Spencer said. "Dying right beside you I mean and not having to kill myself, with some pills or whatever I decided to do to end my life. I know I can't live when you die, I wouldn't want to, so I'd rather die at the same time then continue to go on for even a minute without you."**

 **"** **There's no point of being so morbid as at this point as we're still young so that's still decades away," Hotch said, even as he held his mate a little tighter not liking to think about his mate's death, although he knew it would eventually come, but didn't know when or how it would happen.**

 **"** **You're right, there's no point of being so morbid," Spencer agreed. "It's just that your dying terrifies me."**

 **"** **And the same is true for me," Hotch said quietly. "Really, that's the way it is with all Lifemates, since when one spouse dies the other follows within hours, usually anyway, unless they have young pups that have no relative to take them in, which doesn't happen very often. Very occasionally a couple will only have three or four pups from one birth and there'll be no relatives older siblings, aunts, uncles or grandparents or the like to take them in and then the remaining parent must live at least until they're old enough to be off on their own, but they live a kind of half life until they finally die."**

 **Hotch led the way over to the very comfortable leather sofa and begin to strip out of his jeans and casual shirt, which Spencer thought made his mate look utterly delectable, more so than was normal for his rather overactive imagination and extremely active libido. The shirt was black silk and open at the collar showing just a hint of Aaron's chest and the jeans he was wearing molded to his legs and butt like a glove. Even though Aaron was over 60 he was still a very handsome man with no gray in his black hair and very few wrinkles, although there were a few around his eyes, but mostly his mouth. It didn't matter to him one bit that his mate had aged as that was only natural, because they all died eventually even if their species lived a few decades longer than humans.**

 **Spencer watched Aaron for a minute trying his best not to drool and then begin to do the same.**

 **"** **I want you to lay on the couch on your stomach," Hotch told his mate gently, but with a smirk as soon as they were both undressed.**

 **Spencer obeyed immediately and also very eagerly, because he always loved whatever his mate decided to do to him in the realm of sex and the only time he didn't enjoy it was when he was being punished by spanking, which hadn't happened in a long time now. He never intended for it to happen again, as he didn't need to be punished for the same thing twice.**

 **"** **Just lay there, relax," Hotch told his mate with a smile in his voice. "I'm going to give you a massage, and help you to relax."**

 **"** **Sounds heavenly," Spencer said with a sigh.**

 **He always enjoyed his mate's massages as Aaron really was quite good at it and had given him quite a few massages over the years that always relaxed him and nearly put him to sleep more often then not. Of course, sometimes those massages led straight to some of the best sex, because Aaron's hands were practically magic and always loosened the tension in his body. He also often used some kind of massage oil that smelled heavenly, like sandalwood.**

 **"** **Well, the oil we normally use is upstairs I'm afraid in the bedside table drawer in our bedroom," Hotch said, "so I'm just can use my hands to relax you."**

 **"** **Which is fine as it's not like you've never done it that way before," Spencer said. "You're so good at giving massages you could've become a professional."**

 **"** **I never would've chosen it for a career, as I have to care about the person that I'm doing it for," Hotch said. "You are the only one that I could ever do something like this for and that's only because I love you."**

 **"** **I would have it no other way," Spencer assured his mate his voice muffled against the couch pillow his head was laying with his cheek upon. "I don't think I could stand you doing this for anybody else I'd be too jealous."**

 **Hotch smirked at that for he felt the same, but he just continued massage in his mate's muscles.**

 **"** **That feels terrific," Spencer said with a sigh of contentment.**

 **"** **Oh, I'm not done," Hotch said and Spencer could hear the smugness in his mate's voice. "Not by a longshot."**

 **With his words, Hotch gently pulled his mate's butt cheeks apart so that his entrance would be easier as he didn't have any lube.**

 **"** **Just get on with it I want you so badly and I don't care whether there is any lube or not," Spencer said seeming to read his mate's thoughts. "It's not like the pain lasts very long and we've done it without lube before, when we've been so eager for each other that we just couldn't wait."**

 **"** **Yes, we would have had quite a large family if either one of us had been female," Hotch said. "Naturally and not by IVF."**

 **"** **Unfortunately, that goes against genetics," Spencer said with regret in his voice, "and even if it didn't both of us are too old for child bearing, but yes, I could see 20 or 30 children around us if one of us was female, but even if one of us had a sex change operation that still would not allow us to have children naturally. Really, it's just as well, because our jobs are so dangerous I doubt that we would have allowed ourselves to get pregnant more than once or twice if one of us was female that is."**

 **"** **True enough and besides, the FBI would never understand about us having so many pups," Hotch admitted, "especially if it meant that we would have to take time off for maternity leave. It doesn't matter anyway since neither of us is female, so let's just drop the subject."**

 **Hotch positioned his cock and made sure his mate felt it by rubbing the very tip along the entrance to the anus, before he actually entered his lover's body.**

 **"** **Please! Aaron just do it!" Spencer pleaded in a breathless voice and Hotch could already feel the lust and desire swelling through his mate's form due to their emotional link. Of course, even after all these years it never took much to get Spencer all hot and bothered and ready for him, but then since he was the exact same way he had no right to tease his mate at how easy it was to get him heated up and ready to go. It never took much for either one of them to want each other as just a certain kind of look could do it.**

 **Hotch didn't reply verbally, but gently held the butt cheeks apart and started to push his long, thick penis, which was already nearly bursting with his semen inside his mate's body, slowly, because he didn't want to hurt Spencer anymore then was absolutely necessary for the penetration.**

 **"** **Oh! That feels so good!" Spencer sighed, as Hotch pushed his penis further in.**

 **"** **Am I hurting you?" Hotch asked, even as he leaned down enough to kiss Spencer on the side of his neck.**

 **"** **A little, but then that's to be expected," Spencer replied honestly, "We've had sex so often over the years, that my body has come to accept a little pain and it's really not too bad, because you're being so gentle. I can accept a little pain Aaron, especially since I know it will soon vanish to be overcome by pure pleasure."**

 **Hotch nodded, as if that was the answer he had expected and continued pushing his cock gently into his mate's anus.**

 **"** **You know what I'm going to get my seed all over the couch and the carpet you know," Spencer said his thick with desire.**

 **"** **It doesn't matter," Hotch promised him. "We'll just clean it up and I'm sure no one will notice by the time the pups come home. Even if they do well we shouldn't care, since it's our house and our other pups will be heading off to college in a week."**

 **As he had been speaking Hotch continued to gently push his cock gently forward into his mate's hole until finally he was buried in the body of his mate all the way to the hilt. As soon as he was all the way inside, he started moving slowly, and then faster and Spencer was soon, whimpering, crying and begging for more.**

 **"** **Like that do you?" Hotch asked with the ferocious pleased smirk.**

 **"** **You know I do," Spencer whimpered as pleasure swelled through his form as strong as it had ever been before. "You don't need me to tell you how much I always enjoy you making love to me as you are already well aware that I do."**

 **"Still, I don't want you to lay there like a doll I want you to participate and enjoy it as much as I do, but since you always do that's not a problem, but still to hear it confirmed that you enjoy it is nice to hear every once in awhile. It is an Alpha's duty to make sure their mate is enjoying their ministrations no matter what they are doing whether that's making love or having dinner out or just sitting here watching TV, a mate's happiness is more important and then their own. You know that your happiness means more to me than anything else and so it's always nice to hear that you are enjoying yourself verbally confirmed."**

 **"** **Yes, I know," Spencer said, as Hotch continued to move his cock in and out of his mate's form as he talked in a voice that was no more than a growl.**

 **"** **I love having you in my body," Spencer said in a strained voice. He wiggled a little and managed to thrust his hips upwards, even as Hotch was moving in and out, which caused his mate's penis to go much deeper into him hitting his prostrate, causing his own cock to swell even more and Spencer could feel himself at the very edge of his climax, which had been building for quite sometime. He had admit that he didn't come as soon as he had used to back when he and Aaron had started making love when he was 23, but then he always tried to hold himself back from exploding as long as possible, so that his climax would be more powerful and last longer. Besides, Aaron was being so extremely gentle and tender and therefore, his climax took longer to build then when they were both frantically rutting against each other, which happened a lot, even as old as they were, because they often needed each other so desperately. This was especially true if they hadn't had sex in several days due to them being out of town and working not even having had a quickie, to relieve their lust and desire for each other.**

 **Of course, that soon wouldn't be a problem once both he and Aaron retired in a few years, but until then it was, even after all these years.**

 **Spencer made little whimpering sounds and managed to raise himself up on one hand so that he would be as close to his mate as possible as the two of them were still connected through Aaron's cock.**

 **"** **Is that your way of telling me that you want me to finish it," Hotch snarked, as he lovingly leaned down and kissed the side of his mate's neck several times, causing his, Spencer to nearly purr like a contented cat.**

 **"** **If you don't, I'm going to be nothing, but a puddle of goo all over the couch and floor," Spencer whimpered pleadingly, his voice thick with lust, desire and wanting.**

 **Hotch smirked at that, but he sped up and it wasn't long before both he and Spencer came almost at the same time Reid all over the couch and on the floor and Hotch inside the body of his mate.**

 **"** **Ah!" Spencer sighed in satisfaction having flopped back on his stomach again, "That's much better as the burning in my lower region has finally been put out."**

 **"** **Happy to be of service," Hotch smirked, as he pulled his now flaccid clock out of his mate's body.**

 **"** **You always are," Spencer snickered.**

 **"** **Of course I am, because we are denied enough when we're gone out of town for work," Hotch reminded Spencer. "Sure we do quickies sometimes, before we go to bed at night or before we get up in the morning if we have time, but it doesn't happen often enough, because either we don't have the time or we are to tired."**

 **"** **Or we are afraid of the team hearing us," Spencer added sounding sleepily contented. He was so relaxed after Hotch's massage and the sex that he was practically boneless or at least he felt that way, which really wasn't the least bit unusual and he knew he'd get the feeling back in his body particularly his lower regions in a little while.**

 **"** **You are afraid of the team hearing us," Hotch corrected smugly, "because personally, I don't care if they do or not and you know this, so your statement was incorrect. We know they'll never say anything about it, so it really doesn't matter if we have sex after we're done working for the day or not. If we weren't so exhausted at the end of the day it would happen more often than it does and the team hearing us be damned."**

 **"** **I know," Spencer said quietly. "I know. A very long time ago now it would've embarrassed the hell out of me for the team to hear us making out, since Morgan finally accepted the fact that we're not going to break up shortly after our commitment ceremony, even if he makes a few comments I can take it as Morgan will be Morgan after all and I always get him back eventually."**

 **"** **And Dave will be Dave, since he's been known to make a few comments and well not that they bother me and he knows it, so I don't know why he bothers," Hotch added.**

 **"** **Because we're a family and family tease each other," Spencer told Hotch who had to agree as the team was a family in a lot of ways. "I don't really mind the teasing as I know it's not done out of malicious intent like back when me and Dylan and Trev were in high school."**

 **"** **Definitely not," Hotch immediately agreed. "I'm glad I got to give some of your old classmates apiece of my mind a few years back at your class reunion, because they more than deserved it and if I had my way I would've done more than lecture them."**

 **"** **I don't call the way you yelled at them just lecturing them," Spencer laughed, seeming to have regained some of his energy. "I'm not saying that some of them didn't deserve it, for the way they treated me and my brothers and I know how damn lucky they were that some of them didn't end up in very small pieces. I enjoyed the way you berated them how I was treated in particular, but also Dylan and Trev. None of them seemed to like it very, much probably because they knew you were right and that they deserved it and they should've been punished years ago for their actions."**

 **"** **You're right, they're lucky I didn't track them down and corner them alone and tear them into very small pieces and then do what we do to werewolves who have dishonored their pack and that's burn their bodies and then grind the bones before dumping them in a lake or letting the ashes be taken by the wind. The only reason I didn't it is because I knew I would be one of the main suspects to their disappearance, because of the way I yelled and berated them and I didn't need that kind of trouble and neither did you and so I restrained myself."**

 **"** **I'm glad you did, because while my childhood was horrible thanks partly to them, people grow up, you live, learn and they change. Of course, I know some people are just incapable of change, but a great many of them that did nothing to help me and my brothers, because they didn't want to get involved or participated in the bullying are bound to change in the intervening years. People are allowed to make mistakes and I know that you would have loved to as you say kill them and then burned their bodies, but if they died then they incapable of learning what they did was wrong. You made those people think and made those ones that didn't actually bully us feel guilty for not coming to our aid and try to help us. I think that they might turn into better people, because of it. I think they deserved that chance."**

 **"** **You're way too soft hearted," Hotch said, as he tenderly kissed the top of his mate's head.**

 **"** **Maybe so, but I don't believe you really would've killed any of my old classmates, even if you really wanted to as you might talk about it alone with me, but I don't believe you would've really done it as I know you too well and that while bullying is wrong it's not a serious crime and you believe in justice."**

 **"** **But you forget I'm a werewolf, an Alpha male and our priorities are different," Hotch reminded his mate. "When it comes to protecting what we consider our property we can be ferocious and do things that we normally wouldn't and believe me, I did seriously consider at least beating a few of them up for the way they treated you all those years ago, but decided against it. I know that kind action can come back to haunt you and some of your old classmates might've filed a complaint with the police, which was also trouble we didn't need."**

 **"Still, I'm glad you restrained yourself," Spencer said kissed his lover on the lips tenderly as he had finally managed to sit up. "I never have to see them again, as I don't have to go to the next class reunion and we'll probably be too busy to do that anyway, as we'll likely be traveling by that time."**

 **"** **I can't wait for us to retire," Hotch said. "In fact, both of us have enough years in to do that today if we really wanted to and still keep our pensions."**

 **"** **But you won't," Spencer said, "because you love your job too much and so do I. Well, the solving the case is part of it, not so much the paperwork."**

 **"** **Anybody who likes doing paperwork needs to have their heads examined," Hotch snorted. "I know it's necessary, but it's still a pain, as I could be spending the time with you or we could be spending the time with the team."**

 **"** **That's not going to be a problem once we retire," Spencer reminded his mate, "which is just around the corner."**

 **"** **Well, that's true and the sex is always spectacular when we've been abstinent for several days due to work issues, which is a bonus. Believe me, I have already have plans to keep you in bed for days at a time once we officially retire," Hotch said with a smirk in his voice.**

 **Spencer rolled his eyes at that, but he knew very well Aaron meant what he said and he didn't really mind too much anyway.**

 **"** **Ready for another round?" Hotch asked solicitously.**

 **"** **Not if you still want to go out to dinner," Spencer said. "If you don't want to go out to dinner like we planned, then yes, we can do another round upstairs in or bed, but if we do I'll be too exhausted to go anywhere."**

 **"** **I can wait until after dinner," Hotch said with a grin, "but then I have plans."**

 **"** **Don't you always," Spencer shot back with a grin of his own.**

 **"** **What can I say, except I have a vivid imagination when it comes to you," Hotch said.**

 **"** **That's been obvious for quite sometime," Spencer shot back.**

 **The two continued to playfully argue for a few minutes before they both headed upstairs to get dressed in fresh clothes in order to go out to dinner.**

 **"** **I made reservations while you were in the shower and managed to get a table for two at this five star place. Apparently they weren't to busy," Hotch announced a few minutes later. "I'm actually surprised that I was able to get us a table."**

 **"** **What's the name of this far star place?" asked Spencer.**

 **Hotch told him and Spencer nodded. "They haven't been open long, just six months or so, which likely explains why you were able to get a table, since they are just starting out. If they're still open in another few years, then the restaurant will likely be a success."**

 **"** **Why do you say that?" asked Hotch genuinely curious.**

 **"** **Because 59 percent of restaurants fell in the first three years mostly because of having a poor business plan," Spencer explained. "If they last past that then they are likely to continue to be successful."**

 **Hotch shook his head as it still amazed him at what his mate knew right off the top of his head, even through they had been mated for almost twenty-five years now. He suspected that Spencer wouldn't stop amazing him with his knowledge for as long as they both lived, which was not a bad thing at all.**

 **"** **Well, our reservations are for six, so we need to get going if we don't want to be late," Hotch said.**

 **Spencer nodded and finished getting dressed quickly in some of his nicest clothes.**

 **"** **You look very handsome," Hotch said appreciatively, as he took Spencer into his arms holding him close.**

 **"** **So do you," Spencer said just as appreciatively. "You look good enough to eat."**

 **"** **You'll get your chance after dinner," Hotch said grinning wickedly causing Reid too immediately feel the heat began to pool in his belly and between his legs as his mate's grinning like that always made him feel all hot and bothered and if his entire body was on fire not just in his stomach or his nether regions either but his entire body. He managed to contain his pheromones that were a lot of times a werewolf automatically released around their Lifemate, when they were feeling particularly amorous, which explained why couples had sex all the time, unlike most couples once they got past the honeymoon stage of their relationship. Lifemates however, never got past the honeymoon stage of their relationship and so they always acted like newlyweds, even if they never actually married, although most did.**

 **"** **We had better get going though, if we want to make our reservation," Hotch said reluctantly releasing his mate.**

 **"** **Yes, we should," Spencer agreed calmly kissing his mate gently on the lips.**

 **The two headed out for romantic dinner both still enjoying being alone in the house for the first time in many years and were going to enjoy it while they could. They knew that the children would be by to visit as often as possible, but still they basically had the house to themselves and that was enough for them.**


End file.
